Traders fear Sussex Police could kill a shopping precinct by building a new station in place of parking spaces.

Members of Lewes Chamber of Commerce are worried shopkeepers will lose customers if 50 spaces at the North Street car park are lost to make way for the station.

President David Quinn said they were already feeling the pinch because of rising rents and competition from out-of-town stores.

He said if parking became more difficult, customers would go to out-of-town retail parks and supermarkets where they could park for free.

He said: "The spaces they are talking about building on are for short stays. They are exactly what is needed to keep shoppers coming to Lewes.

"A lot of shops have had rents increased by 25 or 30 per cent and profits are already low on the high street.

"If people can't find a parking space, it won't take them long to look elsewhere and that could be a real problem.

"It's essential for the town that there are enough spaces available."

Mr Quinn said it would be better if the police left the car park alone and spent money improving facilities at the existing station in West Street.

But Sussex Police Authority has said it will sell off West Street if it is allowed to build a new station on the car park.

Mr Quinn added: "The building would be worth a lot of money if it were converted into flats."

A Sussex Police Authority spokesman said about 80 extra parking spaces had become available in December 2004 on wasteland at Pinwell Road and at Brooks Road.

He said the new police station would be "significantly smaller" than the town's existing station, based in a Victorian building in West Street.

It would be a neighbourhood police station, with a front-ofhouse desk where people could go for help and advice. It would have the same opening hours as the existing station.

Patrol constables and police community support officers would be based there, along with the neighbourhood police team.

Departments based at West Street, which are not directly related to operational policing in Lewes, would be moved to other sites.

The West Street building would be sold off once the police had moved out.

A Lewes District Council spokeswoman said it was likely councillors would decide whether to grant planning permission for the station in February or March.

She said: "If anyone wishes to make their views known to the us, they should contact the planning department."

Monday, January 23, 2006