SANDERS Park in Bromsgrove looks set to get more car parking spaces in time for next summer after the number of visitors topped more than 200,000 last year.

The designs for the new spaces will now be drafted following a meeting last Wednesday at Bromsgrove District Council where Cabinet members supported the proposed £8,000 development.

Despite an extension to the existing car park once before in the mid-1990s, a shortage of spaces has led to cars parking on a grassy area to the left of the entrance, causing it to become damaged.

Council chiefs are now hoping the overspill car park will be completed by April 2002, in time for the surge of people visiting the park during the summer.

The former Depot site in the park has been earmarked for the development and a single lane road will be formed making the extra parking spaces accessible during busy times.

The new measures are only a short term solution and the authority proposes to resurface and mark out designated spaces to the existing car park when a further £50,000 can be found to pay for the changes.

Head of leisure services, Robbie Hazlehurst said: "We have been using the grass as parking for quite some years now in busy periods and something really needed to be done because we were losing it as part of the park which was a great shame.

"This seemed the most sensible solution and obviously when more money does become available we will look at more long term measures to combat the problem."