Town councillors are set to crack down on illegal parking after taking responsibility for a Welshpool car park.

Welshpool Town Council will issue on the spot fines to anyone caught using the station car park unlawfully.

Council clerk Robert Robinson said it had taken over the running of the car park in Severn Road from Arriva Trains Wales.

He added: “We decided to take over the car park’s running because we wanted to make sure the car park is only used by people catching trains or waiting to pick up passengers from the station.

“We had found a lot of people were using it as a free long-stay car park.”

He said two men would monitor the car park and new signs warning non-train users not to park there had been put up.

Mr Robinson said: “Anyone caught parking there illegally will be issued with a fine because the new signs clearly state that the car park is for rail users only.

“We want the car park to be accessible to rail users because that is what it is there for, so I hope people will take note of the signage.”

He urged anyone experiencing any problems to contact him.

“We will always have somewhere there monitoring the parking, but if anyone does experience any problems then they should get in touch with me.”

Mr Robinson can be contacted on (01938) 553142.