A SECOND safety report has been ordered after outrage over the closure of a car park entrance.

Councillors have said the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) was the wrong organisation to conduct the original report.

Malvern Hills District Council based their decision to permanently close the rear entrance to Hanley Road car park, in Upton, on RoSPA's findings.

Local residents opposed the entrance closure as it stopped them from using the car park as a thoroughfare.

Cllr Mike Morgan, who sits on the district council, previously suggested that either a 'proper report' should be commissioned or a road should be built through the car park.

He said: "Zurich has been approached to see if they can come up with a layout to do an unofficial route which is acceptable to them.

"We [Malvern Hills District Council] have commissioned them to do a report. It sort of is a replacement of the RoSPA report.

"In my opinion RoSPA were the wrong people to commission. They don't focus on car parks usually."

The councillor said the district council commissioned the Zurich report in January.

Cllr David Chambers, of Malvern Hills District Council, said: "I wouldn't say RoSPA were the wrong people but I think it [the report] fell short of what we needed.

"The Zurich report is imminent. It's possible it could come through literally any time now. We are also waiting for a response from the county council too.

"We have people of all ages using the car park and I couldn't live with myself if I opened it up without looking at all the consequences.

"It would be unthinkable to go ahead and do anything that could endanger life."

The county council are exploring the feasibility of building a road from the car park's rear entrance to the front entrance.

"I'm sceptical that that would be a safe thing to do through that particular car park bearing in mind we have coaches, heavy goods vehicles and a waste site there," Cllr Chambers said.

He added that he expects to receive a response from the county council after the elections.

He said the multi-use nature of the car park means that there are 'enormous' health and safety implications.

The councillor added that the Zurich assessment is key because it will give the council professional advice on the consequences of reopening the entrance.