A TOP businesswoman has said the parking crisis is giving Kidderminster a bad image.

Worcestershire businesswoman of the year Louise Hewett said commercial visitors and clients were becoming frustrated at the lack of spaces.

Ms Hewett, who runs Hewett Recruit-ment, Bridge Street, Kidderminster, said Wyre Forest District Council should have averted current problems.

She said: "This is not only making our job much more difficult - it is beginning to irritate a lot of people in town.

"We are used to running a professional service with people being on time for meetings and appointments.

"People don't expect to have to come into town and spend 20 minutes looking for a parking space. You can't expect them to keep on doing that, eventually they will give up.

"It is wasting productive time for a lot of people and can only give the town a bad image."

She added: "The district council should have had the foresight to see these problems and avert them."