CITY councillors have moved to quash fears raised by MP Mike Foster that a multi-storey car park could soon dominate views of Worcester Cathedral.

The Labour MP had condemned city councillors for considering extending King's Street car park, near the cathedral and Commandery, in light of the news that a feasibility study into redeveloping the site will be held early next year.

The study is still six months off but will look into all options to create more parking spaces on the site - most notably how many storeys below ground a car park could go.

Worcester MP Mr Foster had immediately dismissed the idea of a multi-storey car park as "barmy".

"Why block out the view of one of Britain's most beautiful buildings?" he asked.

"The cathedral towers over our city - so it should; we can't allow the skyline of Worcester to be dominated by a multi-storey car park.

"The city council should scrap the idea now, say so publicly, and spend our money on something worthwhile."

However, city councillor and Worcestershire County Cou-ncil chairman Derek Prodger said there was no intention of damaging the skyline of the city.

"The feasibility study will tell us how far below ground we can go," he said.

"It will also tell us how far above ground we can consider and once we have all the facts, discussions can be held.

"Of course, we will pay close attention to the impact on Worcester and its cathedral. That's the way we operate."

Mayor Aubrey Tarbuck added: "At the moment it's a matter for the cabinet, but I can't imagine anything happening in the future that will be of any detriment to the cathedral.

"We have never acted that way in the past and I'm sure we will not in the future."

Plans to extend the King's Street car park date back to the 1970s and Coun Prodger added that any future changes were a long way off.