ROGUE motorists are said to be clogging up Hereford County Hospital's car park.

Patients are struggling to find a parking space because too many are occupied by shoppers and train commuters.

At £3 for a whole day the hospital car park is considered one of the best bargains in Hereford for people who should not be there in the first place, claim hospital authorities.

Now Mercia Healthcare is preparing a package of measures to deter 'invaders' and free up space for genuine need.

The proposals have to be agreed by Hereford Hospitals Trust and will be considered at a meeting next month.

Minimum charges went up from £1 to £1.50 in July and it is likely they will go up again.

The trust's monitoring officer, Sandra Green, said the package was still being worked out but confirmed that disabled people could be asked to pay for parking in spaces which are currently free.

The proposal has been met with fierce criticism.

Peter Chilmaid, who represents Herefordshire on the Three Counties cancer network, said he would raise the issue with the Disabled Users Pressure Group in Hereford.

Mr Chilmaid, himself disabled for 15 years, is taking up the cudgels and has enlisted the aid of Virginia Taylor, Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Hereford, who is taking up the matter with the hospital trust.

She has also written to chief executive, Jeremy Millar, about the continuing complaints about hospital parking, including those from the Aylestone Hill area about clogged up streets.

Mrs Taylor is launching a petition calling for more parking at the hospital and carrying out a survey on people's experiences.

"Too few beds is bad enough. But too few parking spaces is the last straw," said Mrs Taylor.

Sandra Green said it was time to have a radical look at the situation.

People had to 'face the fact' there was no more room at the hospital for parking. Apart from a few more spaces near the Charles Renton Unit the land had run out, she said.

Mrs Green said Herefordshire Council had been very hard on staff and hospital car drivers in the area and an agreement over using part of Garrick House car park would end later this year.

Over the last 12 months every effort had been made to encourage people to walk or cycle to work but it seemed there was never going to be enough parking space, she added.

It is understood a proposal to build a mini multi-storey car park at the hospital will not take place due to a lack of cash.