A POLICE boss has joined forces with residents to raise concerns about a proposal to install yellow lines on a busy city street.

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham is worried that the congestion-busting plans for Bromyard Road, in Worcester, will cause speeding and parking issues.

Sophie Townsend, a mother who lives on the road, also thinks the move will clog up nearby side streets and leave her with nowhere to park.

However the county council cabinet member for roads has described the criticism as ‘absurd’.

Mrs Townsend said: “It would put pressure on where we park currently on Church Terrace. Double yellow lines will only push people to other areas.

“It’s ludicrous. I don’t believe this is the correct solution, I think it will only cause more problems. Residents’ permit parking would make more sense.”

Mrs Townsend, aged 35, thinks the yellow lines will also lead to pavement parking in narrow side streets, forcing mums to push their prams into the road to get around cars.

In a police report on the proposed measure, an employee writing on behalf of Mr Bangham stated: “I can see advantages in having predominantly two-way free flowing traffic between the hours of 7am and 7pm for the upper residential areas of Bromyard Road, which would prevent the frequent obstructions and hold-ups that are caused by the parked vehicles.

“However this I feel must be tempered by the fact that speeds may well increase and with residential properties on both sides of the road in the affected areas the removal of the all-day parking will only cause displacement and further parking issues to other side roads.”

Jenny Barnes, a former city council candidate for Labour, who also lives in Bromyard Road, thinks the measure will prompt people to pave their front gardens to create parking spaces, which could lead to flooding.

Rev Jon Musselwhite, of Bromyard Road Methodist Church, previously raised concerns that some of his parishioners would stay at home if they could not park on the street.

However Alan Amos, cabinet member for roads, said: “Concerns about flooding are absurd – where is the evidence?

“Block paving of driveways is going on all over the city with no measurable effect on flooding.

“As for the police comments, they hardly ever now do any enforcement of obstruction parking on the pavements, a particular problem these lines are intended to resolve.

“I’m not aware they currently enforce speeding on Bromyard Road. The idea that this is suddenly going to become a rat-run is absurd.”

He previously said the plan was for double yellow lines, but he now says it is for single yellow lines with no parking between 7am and 7pm from Monday to Saturday.

The councillor also said that there would be sections of the road, between Blakefield Gardens and Watery Lane, that would not have yellow lines.

A survey found that most of the people in Bromyard Road already have access to off-road parking, Cllr Amos said.