Small cars 'too big' for small spaces

Parking spaces must get bigger because "small cars are getting longer", a motor trading group has said.

The President of Guernsey Motor Trades Association (GMTA), Dave Beausire, has called for an extra 20cm to be added to Guernsey's "small car" parking spaces.

He said the shortage of parking in the town centre meant that retailers were "suffering".

Environment minister Yvonne Burford said small spaces encouraged residents to buy environmentally-friendly cars.

Mr Beausire said many small car models, such as the Fiat Panda, had increased in size in order to fit extra safety equipment, such as improved crumple zones.

The government plans to replace spaces on Candie Road with smaller ones in the next few weeks, as part of its initiative to reduce the number of large cars coming into Guernsey's town centre, St Peter Port.

Fewer than one in 10 cars on the market would fit Guernsey's small car spaces which are 3.6m long, according to the GMTA.

However Deputy Burford said that while car parking was constantly under review, the small car spaces were "extremely well used", and only accounted for three per cent of all parking spaces in the island.