AROUND 500 people have signed a petition opposing plans to extend a car park into Cripplegate Park, in St John's.

Linda Sammonds, chairman of the Friends of Cripplegate Park, a group of volunteers which helps maintain the park off Tybridge Street, said once all the petitions in shops and workplaces in St John's are returned they could have collected as many as 1,000 signatures.

"It's very encouraging. There is a lot of strength of feeling against the plans," said Mrs Sammonds.

She said many people still do not know of the plans to extend the car park, next to Bamboo nightclub, by 76 spaces, which would take up 21,527sq ft of the 466,733sq ft park - around four per cent of its area, so the Friends placed additional notices around the park.

"People said they were really glad that we put them up because they said they would not have known otherwise," said Mrs Sammonds.

Seventy car-parking spaces are being lost with the council's sale of land on the Newport Street car park for the development of luxury flats.

The council argues that the extra £32,000 revenue raised once the car park is operational would be ring-fenced for the year to year running and improvements to all the parks in Worcester.