SMALL businesses will fold because of Kidderminster's parking crisis, a leading retailer has warned.

Margaret Moon, who runs the town's Swan Centre, said town businesses faced a bleak Christmas and smaller outlets would shut because of reduced parking spaces.

She has called on Wyre Forest District Council to solve the problem which she says will continue once new developments are built.

She warned: "If people can't park they will not shop and I can only see it getting worse. The council should have foreseen this happening.

"I have no doubt small businesses will go to the wall. Kidderminster had not being doing well to start with and this has made it worse.

"For the first time in six years, when the Swan Centre was undergoing extensive refurbishment, we have had less than 100,000 people through in a month."

The council has demolished Pitts Lane and Market Street multi-storey car parks and surface parks to make way for the multi-million pound Weavers Wharf development and new Kidderminster College site.

Spaces have plummeted from 3,670 to 2,815 but once developments such as B&Q and Tesco are established it estimates 4,315 spaces will be available by next Christmas.

However, Ms Moon insists not only will traders suffer in the meantime but there will still be a 1,500 shortfall in spaces once developments are complete.

She said: "These figures are outrageous. We are not going to get back the spaces we've lost because they will be designated for people using the new outlets. The council is not recreating what we've lost.

"It is no good providing other car parking on the periphery of town - we need them in the centre.

"The authority should seriously reconsider parking provision and look at erecting, for example, a multi storey car park on Bromsgrove Street."

Council commercial services chief Andrew Dickens disputed the claims and said the council had foreseen and forewarned traders of short-term problems until February.

He said currently car parks were only reaching capacity on Thursday and Saturday mornings and the authority had encouraged people to shop at other times.

He said: "This seems to be working. We're turning over the same number of cars but at different times."

He added council staff were parking on private land to free up 40 short-term spaces in town, another 20 spaces in Bromsgrove Street, and 25 short-term street spaces had opened in Green Street.

He stressed Stadium Close car park, Hoo Road, was only operating at 20 per capacity and was a 10-minute walk from town.

He also disputed 1,500 spaces would be lost to the town because short-stay parking in the new developments would be for two hours.

He said: "This gives people the time to use the facility and shop at one or two other outlets.

"In the long term the idea is to provide short stay parking in town for shoppers and long-stay for workers on the periphery."

He concluded: "I do understand traders' concerns in the short term and have offered to meet them at any time to discuss any suggestions but we are a cash-capped council and can't magic things up at will."