Dubbo city council said it had no intention to increase the parking times but promised work on the Brisbane and Talbragar streets roundabout would begin soon.

Owner of The Emporium Cheryl Briggs said almost weekly there were near miss accidents when people reversed.

“If someone reverses out and someone else is doing a u-turn it’s extremely dangerous,” she said.

“What happens if someone accidentally presses the accelerator instead of the brakes?

“I would encourage drivers wholeheartedly to use the roundabout to make a u-turn and not do so on the street.”

Owner of Dubbo Sewing Machines and Patchwork Jean Thurston said it was extremely dangerous performing a u-turn near the roundabout.

“You have unbroken lines there so you’re breaking the road rules when you do a u-turn,” she said.

Meanwhile, some retailers have suggested an increase in the parking time limit from an hour to two hours.

Ms Thurston said the extra hour was definitely needed to encourage more people to shop at Talbragar Street.

“When people bring their sewing machine and come for a lesson it definitely takes more than an hour,” she said.

“You visit a travel agent to organise a holiday, go to the real estate to find a house or the hairdresser and it all takes more than an hour.

“An hour is not very long at all.”

Director of technical services Stewart McLeod said the council had no plans to increase the parking limit.

“We need to stick to the one hour limit so we can retain the turnover of parking spaces,” he said.

“I’m sure the last thing they want is customers not being able to park in a nearby vicinity.”

Owner of Colour 45, Elizabeth Makonnen said she was fined several times because she exceeded the hour parking and supported the move to extend the parking times.

“When people come to shop they spend about 30 minutes at my store, then they go to the next and the next,” she said.

“With the one hour limit they rush but the extension would instead make them relaxed.”

Ms Makonnen believed the council would find it hard to decide on parking limits because some people used the spots without actually shopping.

“I think we’re playing Catch 22 with the council,” she said.

“Maybe a sign which says,’Customer parking only’, would help free up parking spots.”