A REVEREND has warned that plans to ban on-street parking outside his church could lead to a drop in attendance.

Jon Musselwhite said there is already a shortage of parking around Bromyard Road Methodist Church, in St John’s, Worcester.

He said some elderly members of his church have recently been forced to turn around and drive home due to a lack of spaces.

Cllr Richard Udall, the Labour city and county councillor for the St John’s ward, has also criticised the county council’s plans to scrap on-street parking in Bromyard Road.

But the council’s cabinet member for roads claims that the proposal will help to tackle congestion in the city.

Mr Musselwhite, 64, said: “As far as we are concerned it will mean more cars trying to park in our car park.

“If we have a funeral people will have nowhere to park.

“It’s getting to the point now where it’s ridiculous. People can’t park their cars now and they go home.

“It’s causing us problems and concerns. It means people can’t attend church or services.

“There’s not enough parking so people (general motorists) just park in the church car park. We don’t want to say don’t park here.”

Cllr Richard Udall said that scrapping on-street parking during the day will exacerbate existing problems and harm businesses.

“Many residents living on Bromyard Road do not have any off-street parking,” he said.

“Such proposals will push parking into neighbouring residential streets, which are already clogged and suffering from parking problems. It would be a nightmare for the residents I represent and I will do all in my power to prevent it from happening.”

Cllr Udall added that he understood concerns about congestion and said the problem could be solved with the completion of an orbital road and a river crossing to the north of the city.

Cllr Alan Amos, who is in charge of the county’s roads, defended the plan to ban on-street parking in Bromyard Road.

“Keeping traffic moving, reducing congestion and improving journey times along the main arterial routes across Worcestershire, balanced with taking on board residents’ concerns is one of our key priorities,” he told the Worcester News.

“The plans for removing on-street parking along the A44 corridor, which includes Bromyard Road and London Road is just one initiative in a series of plans we have in place for reducing congestion.”

He added that the council had committed to tackling congestion in Worcester in its draft budget and the Local Transport Plan 4.