Butcher Douglas Graham and Councillor David Wilson, alongside village resident Ann Muir, are fighting against the council’s controversial parking measures.

Mr Graham, who owns Blackwood of Kilmacolm, is protesting against the council’s decriminalised parking enforcement scheme.

He and fellow shopkeepers in the village say trade is down because of the frequency of warden visits in the village.

Mr Graham said: “I set up the petition on the back of wardens putting tickets on the cars of people attending a funeral last Thursday. I thought that was particularly insensitive.

“We received 170 signatures in two days.” He is calling for the 30-minute on-street parking restriction to be extended to two hours.

The campaigner also wants wardens to visit the village once a month, as was the case when police were in charge.

Councillor David Wilson, who had attended the funeral where mourners received tickets on their cars, is a staunch critic of the scheme.

He said: “It was the funeral of Robin Wilson, the past captain of the golf club and the oldest serving elder in the Old Kirk.

“It was one of the largest funerals I’ve ever seen, the Old Kirk was full downstairs and upstairs.

“The village was full and when people came out of the church they found they had tickets.

“There was a great deal of disgust about it. It’s my understanding the wardens were told a funeral was going.” Councillor Wilson says a total of six tickets were issued that day.

He added: “Wardens used to only come once a month — they got off a bus and stayed in the village for a couple of hours.

“The level of activity now is absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s been handled with a complete lack of understanding of village life.

“There were six visits to Kilmacolm in a four-week period in November/December.

“Someone told me that this sort of thing would never happen in Bridge of Weir, Houston, Kilbarchan or Lochwinnoch because Renfrewshire Council understands its villages.

“Officers in Inverclyde do not, as exemplified by their actions.” But Inverclyde Council says the regulations haven’t changed in the village and are now simply being enforced, with the scheme also open to review.

A spokesman said: “The vast bulk of the on-street parking restrictions across Inverclyde have been in place for many years and none in Kilmacolm have changed.

“It’s just they are being enforced for the first time in several years to encourage more turnover of spaces, particularly around local shops.

“Drivers have a responsibility to be aware of the parking restrictions around them, whether they are enforced or not, because they are in place for a good reason.

“If residents in Kilmacolm are unhappy about the length of time which has been in place for many years, the parking scheme has a built-in review period and the council has already committed to examining town and village centre parking across Inverclyde.

“It is important, however, that residents are aware of the full facts since parking enforcement has been reintroduced. Of all of the areas of Inverclyde, Kilmacolm has been visited the least by parking wardens – with around one per cent of their available time, where on six occasions they have spent an average of an hour in the village.

“Nearly 1,500 parking tickets have been issued across the whole of Inverclyde and 32 have been in Kilmacolm.” If anyone wants to appeal against a parking ticket they should visit www.inverclyde.gov.uk/parking