PLANS to develop council-owned garages in Tiverton to create social housing will make the town's parking problems worse, opponents to the scheme have warned.

Mid Devon District Council has around 300 empty garages and is investigating two sites, in Tiverton at Watery Lane and Roundhill, for redevelopment.

But the plan, mooted at a meeting of the town council last week, immediately came under fire.

Garage rents in Mid Devon were hiked by 43 per cent in April 2008, attracting a storm of criticism from users, many of whom are older people on fixed incomes.

For full story, see this week's Tiverton edition of the Mid Devon Gazette series.