BUSINESS owners in Bewdley have criticised the council for issuing parking fines to shoppers parking on the street while the town's car parks are flooded.

One Bewdley trader, who asked not to be named, said several elderly people had come into their shop visibly upset after being issued with parking tickets.

"It's disgusting," said the business owner. "Where are they supposed to park when the car parks are underwater?

"We've all seen the parking wardens writing tickets for people who have parked up outside to pop in.

"The town is going through enough without having to worry about parking fines."

The shop owner is also concerned businesses will suffer if the threat of parking fines puts people off visiting the town when car parks are flooded.

Councillor John Thomas, Wyre Forest District Council’s cabinet member for operational services, said: “We understand and apologise for disruption caused by the floods which means that compared to usual there are fewer spaces available.

“However, we feel that if we lifted parking charges or didn’t enforce against illegal parking this would make the situation worse.

“We’ve received a number of calls from the Environment Agency saying tourists are visiting Bewdley to view the floods and are blocking access to their equipment and in the event of an emergency, emergency service vehicles wouldn’t be able to get through.”