A VISUALLY impaired man has said the Worcestershire Parkway station is not suitable for people who are blind.

Dan Thompson, from Worcester, has criticised the new railway station, near Norton, Worcester, which opened on February 23.

He said the signage in the station is poor - he claims it’s too small and unclear, which led to him struggling to locate the ticket office inside the station.

Mr Thompson, aged 54, said: “Inside the station, had people not been milling around a member of staff near the ticket office, I wouldn’t have realised it was there, and this is my biggest issue from a sight perspective.

“Signage is just poor. Whether that is directing you to the correct platforms or identifying things like the toilets or ticket office.

“It is all too small, or relies on, in the case of the toilets, stylised symbols rather than words.

"Larger and clearer signage would help and would enable easier access for information. The screens with the train times on need to be lowered as it’s so high and I couldn’t see the train times.

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“When you have something that is brand new that cost almost £25 million the station should be up to scratch.”

Mr Thompson added: “It’s a great station, don’t get me wrong, and that airport feel is very much there.

“I’d issue a note of caution after wandering around the station with my friend. It is very windy and exposed. The worst for this is platform three, for The Cotswold Line, which was that bad it was making the roof vibrate – something I’d imagine would be disconcerting for some, especially those on the autistic spectrum.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: "We welcome feedback from customers about the station which so far this has been extremely positive. The station was designed and built to comply with all the relevant accessibility standards including the Department for Transport Code of Practice 'Design Standards for Accessible Railway Stations' and the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability.

"In addition to this we have hosted visits by a number of groups and individuals with physical disabilities, visual impairments and neural diversity to understand their requirements and incorporate them where possible into the design. This included visits from a local college for people with visual impairments.

"The design of signage needs to be as simple as possible and in some cases pictorial representations are preferred because they reduce clutter and are better understood by some people than their written alternatives. We will keep signage at the station under review with our GWR colleagues who are now managing the station and car park and will implement any changes that are deemed necessary."