Business owners say parking in Bushey Arches is "horrendous"and are campaigning for restrictions to be put in place.

Jackie Collins', owner of LJ's Café in Pinner Road, instigated a petition in a bid to combat the lack of car parking spaces available for customers.

The 47-year-old collected 190 signatures, which she submitted to Watford Borough Council.

Ms Collins, of Bushey Grove Road, Bushey, said: "The parking is horrendous.

"Majority of the cars parked in Bushey Arches Car Park are commuters, who leave them there all day, meaning there is no spaces for customers.

"The car park is free and we want it to remain free, but we want restrictions in place so people can park there when they come to us."

Dan Kingsley, manager of Bodicraft in Chalk Hill, described the parking situation as "murderous".

The 25-year-old from Bricket Wood said: "It's not just people leaving their cars there all day long, but people also work on their cars there, fixing them.

"It's not fair on customers. They end up parking outside our shop or even on the curb when they want to quickly nip into one of the shops to get something and because of that they are constantly getting parking tickets.

"There needs to be more spaces in the car park where there is a general flow of cars going in and out."

In response to the petition, the council are proposing to alter the existing parking restrictions in Bushey Arches Car Park and are seeking residents views.

Watford Borough Council plan to change the parking bays into short stay bays and permit holder bays.

The short stay parking bays will operate Monday to Saturday 8am to 6.30pm and have a maximum stay of two hours, no return within four hours.

Residents and businesses within the surrounding area will be eligible to buy a permit to use in the proposed permit bays, which will also operate Monday to Saturday 8am to 6.30pm.

Oxhey ward councillor, Peter Taylor, said: "We are keen for residents and businesses to take part in this consultation. We want to know if people would like the parking arrangements in this car park to change.

"The petition we received from almost 200 people complained that at present many cars are left in the car park for long periods of time meaning that residents and people visiting businesses in the area cannot use the car park.

"Council officers have therefore brought forward a proposal to introduce two hour parking bays and residents' parking. We now want to find out if such a change is supported or not."

All letters and consultation questionnaires need to be emailed to jennifer.yeboah@watford.gov.uk by November 6.