RESIDENTS-only parking schemes and other restrictions may have to be put in place in Warndon Villages as parking problems around the new hospital and offices get worse.

Increasing numbers of visitors and staff parking in residential streets have alarmed the parish council, which fears the situation could worsen when the old Ronkswood Hospital site closes in September with the loss of 300 parking spaces.

To compound the problem, some residential streets in Ronkswood look set to be given access-only parking restrictions which the parish council fears will push extra cars on to the Villages.

"The orders are going through for access only in places like Linksview Crescent and Leopard Rise," said city councillor Ian Imray.

"This is going to push the problem further and further back into the Villages."

Coun Imray suggested solutions including single yellow lines or a residents-only parking scheme.

"Residents would pay for a sticker to display - any car without a sticker could not park there between 8am and 6pm, or 9am and 5pm," he said.

But parish council members warned charging residents to park in their own streets would be unpopular.

"If residents are told they have to pay to park outside their own homes, then the proverbial will hit the fan," said chairman Bunny Clutterbuck.

One of the schemes suggested at Monday's parish council meeting was for a barrier to be placed at the end of each cul-de-sac that could only be opened by an electronic card issued to residents.

Members also resolved to write to the NHS Trust and local MPs expressing their dissatisfaction with the parking situation.

"The place is an absolute fiasco," said county councillor John Buckley.

"It looks like a nursery in there.

"Everybody likes a bit of landscaping, but they could fit more parking spaces in if they get rid of it and change the way the cars are facing.

"The hospital can solve its own problem. It's the offices that are going to cause the real difficulties."

Coun Buckley claimed the offices, including Reality and Atkins, had cut the number of parking spaces to encourage employees to use other means of transport to get to work, but that had failed.

Members of the parish council also complained there was no continual footpath between the hospital buildings and car parks.