SOUTHWOLD faces a spring and summer of traffic chaos if the problem posed by 'inconsiderate' parking is not addressed, town councillors were told this week.

People parking illegally on yellow lines and overstaying on limited parking places in the High Street have been causing disruption for some time.

But Southwold police fear the problem will get worse in the spring because more people have started parking illegally by the new Tesco Express store in Queen Street, which opened in October.

In a report to Southwold Town Council on Tuesday, PC Christopher Sadler said: 'The opening of the Tesco store in Queen Street has led to an increase in illegal parking outside the supermarket there.

'Although it does not interrupt the flow of traffic too much in the winter, from spring onwards this will create problems when the town is busy.'

PC Sadler went on to tell councillors that unless all illegal parking was tackled, the problems would grow over the busy holiday season.

He said: 'Come the spring it will be a problem and obviously we have got to get to grips with it before then – otherwise it will snarl up the town in the summer months.'

PC Sadler said a common explanation given by motorists parking illegally was that they had only parked on yellow lines for a few minutes, which was not a valid excuse.

Town councillor Michael Ladd said he had been 'amazed' to see a 4x4 vehicle block the whole pavement in Station Road, preventing people from walking down the pavement.

But he added: 'We cannot solve the parking problem. That is not the jurisdiction of this council.'

Councillors agreed they needed to liaise closely with Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council over the town's parking arrangements.

When the Tesco opened at the former Co-op premises in October, it led to a protest outside the store from people concerned about the impact it would have on the town's independent shops.