ANGRY residents have hit out at council workers turning Worcester's Spetchley Road into a "car park".

Householders living by County Hall, the headquarters of Worcestershire County Council, say their lives are being made a misery by the congestion.

As your Worcester News revealed in October, there are 2,300 staff who work at the complex but fewer than 800 on-site parking spaces.

The number has rocketed 43 per cent in a year as other council-run buildings have closed, resulting in staff relocating.

Keith Burton, from Spetchley Road Residents Association, turned up at a full council meeting to have his say.

He said: "Why does the county council not make sufficient car parking available to its employees?

"And why are the nearby residential streets expected to provide this, to detriment to the community?

"The whole of Spetchley Road is now a car park. I was appalled to find the council now has 2,000 staff but around 700-odd parking spaces.

"It's a disgraceful situation the council must take immediate steps to rectify."

Residents say Kilbury Drive and Spetchley Road are two of the hotspots for workers parking up.

The criticism has been rebuffed by the authority, which says it is actively working on ideas to ease the current situation.

Councillor Marcus Hart, the cabinet member with responsibility for community safety, said:: "The county council wishes to be a good neighbour so the general parking situation at County Hall is constantly under review and we will make any practical changes that we can.

" We do not accept that the council is solely responsible for parking pressure in the area.

"We are encouraging all staff and visitors to county hall to consider alternative modes of travel, including, car sharing, walking, cycling and passenger transport options using local commercially-operated buses.

"Our flexible and mobile working policy has meant that the majority of staff now regularly work from home or from other locations away from County Hall for part of the week which helps alleviate some of the pressures of car parking."

Employees can park on-site for up to four days per week, or if they live within two kilometres of County Hall, just three days.