Residents’ parking, issues on one-way roads and pedestrian safety will all be addressed ‘very shortly’ in a traffic management plan for Sidmouth, highways bosses have revealed.

It cannot come quickly enough for restaurant owner Steve Clarke, who has long seen abuse of the Fore Street loading bay and the ‘chaos’ when deliveries arrive.

And this week he says he has witnessed a van driving the wrong way up the road and construction workers parked all day without being ticketed.

“It has come to our attention this week that the council now issues permits for any zone and, by displaying this permit, the traffic warden will not issue a ticket,” said Mr Clarke.

“I can only recommend to the general public at large that if you want to park anywhere in Sidmouth – including loading bays – apply for an any zone permit.”

He said busy loading bays have a knock-on effect on traffic in general – as some delivery drivers stop in the middle of the road, ‘causing chaos’ until their job is done.

Mr Clarke is in his fourth year at The Rendezvous and in that time he has witnessed numerous people driving the wrong way up one-way Fore Street from The Esplanade.

In some cases he has been able to intervene, but on Sunday he said a delivery driver ignored his protests and continued into High Street.

Mr Clarke is calling for the roundabout at the bottom of Fore Street to become a junction and for the road to be narrowed to deter motorists from going the wrong way.

He also thinks the whole of High Street needs to be made one-way – as motorists frequently have to mount the curb when turning left out of Blackmore Drive.

Councillor Stuart Hughes said Devon County Council is already aware of the issues and they will be looked at as part of the traffic management plan.

The authority’s cabinet member for highways added: “At that time we will be compiling a list of all the issues raised so far by members of the public, as well as other areas of concern - including requests for residents’ parking.”