THE parking woes which have blighted the £96 million Worcestershire Royal Hospital could be resolved in the New Year.

Worcestershire county council chiefs have won a £30,000 government grant to fund a travel coordinator to help staff draw up personal travel plans, which will encourage them to leave their cars at home and use buses, bikes or their feet.

And a batch of 269 new spaces will be ready in February.

The hospital, which opened earlier this year, has 1,322 parking spaces, 800 of them solely for staff. The total number of spaces is more than at the three previous hospital sites in the city combined.

But relatives and patients have complained difficulties finding a space have forced them to miss appointments.

Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor has also complained about the parking problem.

Now it is hoped the county council's new travel coordinator will help ease the burden on spaces.

Emilie van de Graaff, employer travel plans coordinator for the county council, said: "The personalised journey planner will be helping staff get to work by means other than the car at least one day a week.

"This means they will be working with individual staff to tailor a solution that suits their specific needs. They will need to take into account things like shift times, picking up or dropping children off at school and proximity to a regular bus route."

"The aim of this is to help solve car parking problems at the hospital, reducing congestion and perhaps even improving people's health at the same time."

Hospital spokesman Richard Haynes said the extra 269 parking spaces would also be available in the new year. The hospital also supported a park-and-ride scheme for staff.

He added that the initial number of spaces at the hospital had been restricted by planning regulations.