Charity tells of city parking woe

5.50.15pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 9th Jul 2007

A charity claims regeneration work in Leicester is making it increasingly difficult for disabled people to find a parking space in the city centre. The group, Mosaic, said the work being carried out has severely reduced the number of parking spaces dedicated to those with disabilities. It claims disabled spaces on Church Gate have been cut from 16 to five. The city council has said it will look again at the balance of spaces which are available.

Mosaic director Barbara Howard, said: "Walking long distances is no good - you need disabled persons parking nearer facilities. People want to go all over the city centre and once you remove appropriate parking for disabled people then you have effectively excluded them."

In a statement, a city council spokesperson, said: "There are a limited numbers of spaces available for parking in Church Gate and elsewhere. We will be happy to look again at the balance of spaces which is available for these essential users. However, we will enforce parking restrictions where necessary to ensure the spaces available are being used correctly."