Public toilets in Brampton could be demolished - to make way for more parking spaces.

Knocking down the existing block and rebuilding a smaller block is one of the changes being proposed as part of drastic parking reforms.

While there are 200 parking spaces in three car parks and a handful of disc zones throughout the town, parking has been an issue for many years. 

Brampton parish council is now debating major changes which include demolishing the public toilets block and remarking and reorganising a 60-space car park, which is currently free to park in all day. 

Councillor Gillian Hodgson is calling for a two or four hour disc zone to be introduced at Showfield Car Park, along with creating a number of permitted spaces for businesses, which cannot provide parking for their staff. 

An alternative suggestion, which has been privately discussed, is to demolish the public toilet block and rebuild it on a smaller scale to free up space.

Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday, Mrs Hodgson, head of planning and the environment on the council, asked: "Why do we need to make any alterations to the existing toilets and car parking behind the doctors surgery at a cost of more than £100,000?

"We already have 200 car parking spaces in Brampton. If we could think about how we organise these at a lower cost, even to make money for the parish council, surely this would be a better idea." 

Her plan is to contact all the businesses who use the car park and ask them to apply to the parish council for parking discs for a small annual fee.

Councillor Geoff Prest, vice-chairman, disagreed. 

He said: "The only thing I agree with is to form a working party. 

"I can't really agree to the Showfield idea because the thing that strikes me immediately is what is the cost of actually supervising it? Who is going to decide if somebody isn't parked in the right spot?"

He has conducted a survey in the past which found that no single car moved from that car park in one day, suggesting the majority are used by people who work in Brampton.

Chairman David Moorat said: "There have been a good number of surveys of car parking in Brampton in the last few years and there is one constant thread through every single one of them - that is there are insufficient car parking spaces in Brampton to support the businesses and tourism.

"In so far as Showfield is concerned, I would ask the same questions as Geoff."

Mrs Hodgson told The Cumberland News : "If about 40 people working in businesses in Brampton make use of the car parking spaces here, that would leave 20 that we could make either two or four hours. 

"The majority of people who come into Brampton are coming to do some shopping or whatever, which is normally for two or three hours."

This is something she thinks could generate £800 per year.

She added: "It's very difficult because the majority of businesses are on Front Street and Main Street where the two-hour parking is. But I still say there are people parking here and going on to Carlisle." 

Another of her suggestions would be to pursue gaining ownership of land near Murray Park to create another parking area.

Mr Moorat said: "We've looked at Murray Park before and that would make an excellent car park. Especially that swampy bit at the bottom."

A working group, including Mrs Hodgson, Mr Prest, and Mr Moorat, has been set up and will look into all the options.

An upcoming temporary closure of the lower Union Lane Car Park means more than 20 spaces will be lost while drainage work is carried out. An Order by Cumbria County Council comes into force on February 1 and work is anticipated to take 10 days.

Both car parks in Union Lane are currently free to park in all day but Mrs Hodgson thinks one could be made into a disc zone.