strain on Hamilton's already-overburdened parking system, officials have claimed.

The plans to allow residents to sell their cars to other residents will lead to about 1,000 more cars coming on to the road.

Corporation of Hamilton secretary Mr. Roger Sherratt said that unlike many other cities, Hamilton is primarily a business centre with very few residents.

This means the City becomes crowded with vehicles during the day, as workers and shoppers pour in.

The 1989 Traffic Report by English consultant Mr. Alastair Dick estimated that some 20,000 motorised vehicles enter the City via Crow Lane each day while there are less than 5,000 parking spaces south of Victoria Street in Hamilton.

Mr. Sherratt said there are 2,450 all-day parking spaces for cars: 800 in the five `Pay and Display' lots, 650 in cost-free lots and 1,000 private spaces.

"Every space available for full parking is currently being used,'' he said.

One of the recommendations put forward by the Dick Report was the construction of a multi-storey parking complex, but the Corporation of Hamilton's application for a three-storey structure at Bull's Head was rejected in January by the Development Applications Board.

The Board felt the parking complex was not part of an overall transportation plan for Hamilton, and said the structure's design was "not of a quality befitting a location in the City'' and did not have a landscape plan "to reduce the impact of a building of the scale proposed''.

Mr. Sherratt said the Corporation is currently appealing the decision. He said another plan, requiring all new Hamilton office buildings to have underground parking, was scrapped a number of years ago because of the potential hazards it posed.

Authorities at that time believed cars emerging from underground parking would would endanger pedestrians walking in front of the exits -- especially during the rush hour.

An informal The Royal Gazette poll taken on Thursday on the streets of Hamilton showed a general sense of exasperation with Hamilton traffic.

Artist Ms Elizabeth Mulderig said: "It's the biggest pain. Today it took me over 15 minutes driving around town to find a spot.'' "I have a paid spot so it doesn't affect me,'' said lawyer Mr. Michael Smith.

"But it's a problem they should have addressed a long time ago.'' Taxi driver Mr. Walter Swan said people in positions of power should take the initiative and change the situation before it gets worse.

But he added: "It's something I can live with. As long as we have limited space, we're going to have the problem.'' Adding to the frustrating traffic situation in the capital is the prevalence of double-parking -- especially on Reid and Queen Streets.

On busy days, this area of town can resemble an obstacle course, with motorists forced to weave through a gauntlet of delivery vans and private cars. Vehicles have even been spotted double-parked next to free parking spaces.

"Most of those people are just chatting with their friends,'' said one irate motorist who responded to Thursday's poll.

"When you ask them to move, they just give you a look and keep talking. And I've never seen a traffic warden give any of them a ticket. (Traffic wardens) just walk right past them.'' Police spokesman Sgt. John Dale said double-parking is an ongoing problem that is difficult to monitor. He said extra Police officers assigned to the capital for the holidays will be on the look-out for offenders.

Sgt. Dale said people who are double-parked would either be moved on or fined on the spot by a Police officer or traffic warden.

But two other poll respondents, who also asked for anonymity, had some choice words for the traffic wardens. They claimed some wardens allow their friends and relatives to park longer than an hour without receiving a ticket.

One consequence of the parking crisis which cannot be measured accurately is the loss of productivity brought about by employees who have to leave the office every hour to move their cars.

This Hamilton ritual can take anywhere from five to twenty minutes each time, depending on the location of the vehicle in relation to the business and the volume of traffic.

A number of companies in Hamilton provide parking facilities for their employees, including the banks, while other firms rent spaces in nearby lots.

But for the unlucky workers who do not have a private space, parking the car can be a daily nightmare.

Mr. Roger Sherratt Sgt. John Dale.