Councillors are calling for “urgent improvements” to be made to parking facilities at Watford General Hospital.

Watford borough councillors praised the commitment of the NHS to developing and expanding the hospital under the health campus scheme.

However they said the car park was no longer fit for purpose and had to be upscaled to match the increasing demand for hospital services.   

READ MORE: Mother expecting twins bemoans 'exhausting' car parking at Watford General Hospital 

“Now we’ve had a commitment from the NHS to improve the hospital, I think it’s the right time to build a new car park, closer to the hospital, with more spaces,” said Councillor Peter Taylor.

“I have experience of having to wait 45 minutes trying to find a space. The lack of capacity is the main issue but the spaces are also quite small and many people using them have limited mobility.

“The distance between the car parks and the main building is quite far. It’s too small, poorly surfaced and is on a steep slope.”

Tim Duggleby, the head of strategic development and compliance at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said he understood the need for a multi-storey car park at the hospital.  

“We are currently developing the business case for the long term car parking solution and will work as fast as we can with our partners to make this happen. We hope to have a solution in place by 2019,” he said.

“The steepness and layout of our site and our building locations mean that any proposed solution will involve compromise. However, we will be guided by the needs of patients and visitors who have limited mobility or who need time to drop off and pick patients up.”

Cllr Taylor said he would be in favour of any move which increased parking capacity.

He also praised recent moves to improve parking at the hospital, including the building of a new link road - named after artilleryman Thomas Sawyer who was killed while on a tour of duty in Afghanistan - which has succeeded in cutting ambulance response times.

Cllr Taylor and his Liberal Democrat colleagues have started an online petition calling for “urgent improvements” to the hospital’s car parking facilities. If you wish to sign, please visit http://www.watfordlibdems.org/hospital_car_park_petition