HEALTH chiefs are considering a hospital parking shake-up which could have serious road safety implications in Otley.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has sent a form out to staff at Wharfedale Hospital to find out who would qualify for a new £30 bond parking permit.

The questionnaire also details changes which would mean part-time employees paying the same for parking as their full-time colleagues.

The Trust insists no decisions have been taken yet and says staff have been told to ignore the detail on the form, which it claims is only a 'trial'.

But employees have to return the completed paperwork by tomorrow and some, along with several Otley councillors, fear what could happen if the changes go ahead.

Councillor Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) had actually been calling on the Trust to make the car park free.

He said: "The changes would just make the situation on the road up there worse.

"They are simply being greedy and the amount of money they would make from this is so infinitesimal compared to the Trust's total income - it may even cost more to collect it!

"Many of the staff already park on the road and this would simply make a bad situation a lot worse.

"Instead of being 1,000 to 1 odds against somebody being hurt in a serious accident it would be 100 to 1.

"If I was a member of the hospital staff I would be very angry."

One part-time employee, who did not want to be named, said the proposed changes would see some workers' weekly parking charge double.

They said: "It would mean a £3.75 to £7.50 increase for staff working three days a week.

"There are a lot of people who aren't going to pay that. The £30 bond is refundable but what about people who stay with the hospital for ten or 20 years, it will be worth nothing by the time they get it back.

"We've had to put up with all this disruption when the hospital was being built, and they had the cheek to still charge us for parking then, only to find at the end of it that they're planning to put the charges up!"

The hospital's purpose-built car park has 203 spaces including 20 bays for disabled drivers.

But since it opened in April on-street parking problems have continued, with many visitors and employees double parking along Newall Carr Road and other streets to avoid paying.

A Trust spokesman said the staff questionnaire only represented a very early stage in a widespread review of parking.

He said: "We would like to stress that no changes to car park charging have been agreed by the Trust and we have advised staff of this.

"We are currently undertaking a review of car parking across the Trust, in the interests of staff.

"This is to ensure staff with the greatest need are given priority for on-site spaces.

"As part of this review, a trial form for staff to fill in was sent to those working at Wharfedale and Chapel Allerton Hospitals.

"This was purely to test the effectiveness of the form which may be used to assess each member of staff's own parking needs.

"These forms were issued and requested to be filled in, purely as a test exercise and we welcome staff feedback."

Councillor Colin Campbell (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon), however, is calling for a total re-think.

He said: "My concern is the on-street parking and I think the Trust is just being greedy.

"There's no need to charge for parking at Wharfedale, I know they have parking problems at other hospital sites but they certainly don't at Otley.

"In some ways it's like taxing your employees which strikes me as ludicrous, and if you're poorly you have to pay as well.

"People will obviously, and I can't really blame them, not wish to pay more and we will get a situation where people park on the streets - and we've seen all the problems that can cause.

"I would ask the Trust not to charge for hospital parking in Otley because it is causing considerable problems for local residents."