LYDNEY traders are being urge to "get off their backsides" and take the fight to ditch parking charges back to the district council.

The call comes from Lyn Callow, chairman of the town's Traders' Association, who says business in the High Street is down on average between 25 and 30 per cent.

In a walk round the shops on Saturday she found only one trader who said takings had not been hit.

"Specialised shops are not so likely to suffer but I am in no doubt the charges are hitting traders. At least one expects not to be trading by Chirstmas and I fear there may be others," she said.

Mrs Callow urged traders to write strong letters of protest to the council as soon as possible.

She admitted: "There has been a problem of apathy. Everyone seems to have left things to the business next door and as a result nothing has happened. It is now important that everyone gets off their backsides and we take the fight to the district council and get the charges removed."

On behalf of members of the town's Traders' Association she will be writing to the council next week.

Meanwhile UKIP's Colin Guyton, using a Freedom of Information request, has written to the council seeking answers to a string of questions on parking issues. Among them he wants to know the income received to date, the cost of machine installation, the cost of enforcement and the number of penalty notices issued.

Mr Guyton, Lydney town councillor Alan Preest, and Tim Congdon, a leading economist, all visited Lydney on Saturday.

Mr Preest said talks with traders had been "eye-opening." It was, he said, sad to see the effect the charges were having on hard-working decent people. It was also apparent that prior to the introduction of charges no worthwhile consultation had taken place.

Mr Guyton said the Lydney visit had confirmed his worst fears. UKIP, he said, would be working with the Traders' Association to establish just how bad things were for Lydney retailers before submitting details to the district council.

Mr Congdon said: "The walk around Lydney was an eye-opener for me. People now drive to supermarkets and out-of-town retail warehouses where national chains offer low prices and a wide range. The traditional English high street is threatened by this type of competition. Ease of parking on the high street is essential if the traditional retailer is to compete.

"These new car parking charges in Lydney are incomprehensible. They are costly to administer, bad for small businesses, bad for investment on the high street, and bad in the long run for the amount of rates that businesses can pay to the council."