THOUSANDS of nurses and doctors have flooded union reps with complaints over a "deplorable" decision to introduce parking charges for staff at the county's hospitals.

Staff are "up in arms" after receiving a letter detailing the decision to introduce parking charges at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and the Alexandra, at Redditch.

Worcestershire UNISON convenor, Paul Tasker said complaints ran into thousands.

"We had an email from management saying they were not going to consult staff over car parking and were going to introduce a flat rate payment scheme, which was deplorable, so we asked for something to be done," he said.

As a result, staff have been sent letters asking them to choose between paying between £25 to £240 per year, depending on salaries, or a flat rate charge for full-time staff to pay £130 a year.

"Staff feel they are having to pay out to pay off the £25m deficit that the hospitals have accrued and has nothing to do with them," said Mr Tasker.

An anonymous nurse at the Royal, added: "I, and most of my colleagues, are up in arms at this decision.

"We work unsociable hours, are short staffed, with most of us doing the same work that should be done by two staff.

"Making badly paid nurses pay for the trust's deficit is not a good management decision and is adding insult to injury."

A hospitals spokeswoman said the letter was sent out after discussions with staff and will determine the best charging method.

"We are aware that the decision to charge will not be popular," she said.

"Charges are being introduced as the hospital sites across the county are unable to cope with the relentless increase in demand for car parking.

"We have exhausted the majority of land available for car parking and the cost of maintaining and providing new car parking is a serious drain on the trust's finances.

"The income raised from staff charges will be used to offset these costs and provide further improvements across all sites, such as lighting, security and new barriers."