THE introduction of yellow lines in the centre of South Zeal has led to renewed calls for a village car park to cope with visitors at busy times.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said she had witnessed rows in the street between motorists over the past week as some drivers ignored the new yellow lines.

Oxenham Arms landlords Simon and Lyn Powell said they were worried about their trade being affected by the new restrictions. The Powells have put up a sign outside their pub directing people to the car park at the recreation ground.

However, they have now received a letter from the recreation ground committee telling them to remove the word ‘free’ from their sign, as a donation is requested from those who park in the recreation ground car park.

Mrs Powell said they had been led to understand by the parish council – of which her husband is a member – that the car park was there for the village.‘I’m absolutely fuming because this does affect our business,’ she said. ‘We have a fabulous reputation for our food and of an evening we have 20 odd cars. We have put the sign up because people didn’t know there was a car park there. ‘The whole thing is an absolute farce. We are trying to run a business here and make it as easy as possible for our customers to park.’Resident Ursula Radford, who also lives in the main street, said there was ‘an urgent need’ for a dedicated village car park both for residents and visitors.She said: ‘Parishioners had been led to believe by the council that everyone whose vehicles were displaced by yellow lines could park in the village recreation ground car park. ‘For a great many, the less able and the aged particularly, losing their car parking space close to their residence has become a major cause of concern.’Mrs Radford added that a public car park had originally been planned on land made available in the village for the building of the new South Tawton Primary School, but that this had not materialised.Many in the village say that the parking problems are worse at school picking up and dropping off times. The controversial yellow lines, an attempt by South Tawton Parish Council and Devon County Council to solve parking issues in the village, were painted earlier this month.South Zeal Recreation Ground Committee said in a statement that the committee was ‘in further correspondence and trying to work with the owners of the Oxenham Arms to resolve the problem with the car parking’.Parish council chairman Andrew Sampson said: ‘The recreation ground car park is there for the village so anyone can use it. Nobody is saying people can’t park there.‘The yellow lines, Devon County Council have said, have actually displaced six to nine cars, so as far as the county council and Dartmoor National Park Authority are concerned they aren’t causing a problem. ‘It is early days as the lines have only just been done but so far everything is going fine as we thought it would.‘We are in discussions with Dartmoor National Park Authority at the moment about providing another car park in the village.’