Wiltshire Council have been slammed for changing car parking times in Malmesbury without a proper consultation.

The council have also been criticised for harassing parents with tickets, failing to update it on their mobile app, and failing to follow proper rules during a Malmesbury Town Council meeting.

Changes to the car park came into action on Friday with no warning.

Stunned parents were told by an 'enthusiastic' traffic warden that charges at Cross Hayes Car Park had been brought forward from 9am to 8am, and if they were not quick enough dropping their children off at the school, they would return to a parking ticket.

Many parents, unaware of the change to parking charges, returned to find parking tickets on their cars.

Wiltshire Cllr Gavin Grant is furious at the changes and wants the tickets issued to parents dropped.

He said: ‎"Wiltshire Council did not ask Malmesbury Town centre residents, St Joseph Primary school parents or those with children at the Kings Day Nursery, local cafes, our town council or me as the elected Wiltshire Councillor what we thought about charging for car parking in the Cross Hayes at 8am. If they had we would have said "no".

"Instead they just did it, harassed parents and issued penalty notices. Their excuse is that our extra free parking hour is an 'error'. They say other Wiltshire Council car parks start charging at 8am‎ and the Malmesbury town centre car park should do so.

"‎But the rules are clear. Wiltshire Council needed to consult on this change. They did not do so.

"I want this change dropped, the parking tickets withdrawn and Malmesbury's Town centre car park's unique position recognised.

"Wiltshire Council's cabinet‎ need to accept their mistake and withdraw the 8am charge. If they do not do so then I will seek the support of other councillors to call it in and demand a special meeting of the Council's Scrutiny Committee."

Councillors at Malmesbury Town Council discussed the incident at a town council meeting on Tuesday.

In the meeting, councillors noted how their is a lack of parking around the school, forcing parents to park briefly in the Cross Hayes car park, to walk pupils safely to the school.

Cllr Grant did confirm that he has been promised a scheme that will allow St Joseph's school to hand out around 20 parking permits to parents.

However, Cllr Grant confirmed that as Kings Day Nursery is commercially operated, no permits would be given to them by Wiltshire Council.

Cllr Kim Power also addressed her concerns for residents who park overnight in the car park.

She explained how some residents would now be forced to leave before 8am for work instead of half an hour later or risk getting a ticket.

It was also noted that the parking app MiPermit, that allows users to pay on their phone does not allow users to pay for parking until 9am.

Chair of planning and environment Cllr John Gundry demanded that a proposal was put forward to reverse the charges and that the council "needed to follow though on this on behalf of our residents."

A proposal was put forward by Cllr Kim Power for Mayor Vandelli to send a letter to Wiltshire Council on behalf of the town setting out the reasons for believing no proper consultation took place, and for Wiltshire Council to to suspend all parking charges until a consultation is carried out.

Councillors at Malmesbury Town Council voted unanimously in favour of the proposal.

The Standard have contacted Wiltshire Council for a comment.