THE amount of correspondence this newspaper receives about parking in the St John’s area of Worcester is proof it is a major problem for residents.

Students and staff at the nearby University of Worcester are the main targets of residents’ anger. They say the university is the root cause of much of the problem, parking on the main roads and residential side streets of the area.

The university defends itself by saying it has expanded car parking on its site and does all it can to encourage students and staff to use public transport and park-and-ride facilities.

It has also repeatedly reminded the county and city councils that the university has donated £1 million to help solve transport problems.

As we have reported before, new parking restrictions for St John’s are now to be brought in by county highways chiefs. Today we reveal the new rules will be in place within a fortnight.

These new restrictions ban parking in a variety of ways on most of the main roads around the university campus.

While we support action against illegal parking, the new rules apply to residents, meaning many will not be able to park outside their homes. It is also likely the parking problems will move to nearby side streets.

The county council has a second scheme on the stocks to deal with smaller roads in the area.

We wonder whether a residents’ parking scheme would make more sense for the streets around the campus. While we repeat again our view that the expansion of the university is good for Worcester we accept it has caused problems for some residents.

It strikes us, though, that the university is doing what it can in financial terms to find solutions to the problems. But the solutions themselves have to be implemented and policed by the local authorities.