Station car park out of bounds

TRAVELLERS catching trains at Felixstowe have nowhere to leave their vehicles - even though the station is next to a huge car park!

New restrictions on the car park at the rear of the Great Eastern Square shopping centre now mean drivers can only stay two-and-a-half hours - not long enough to make a trip to Ipswich and back - or face �70 fines,

Apart from a small scrubby piece of land on the edge of the site - whether people can use this is uncertain - there is nowhere else to park and people using the rail service have to park in nearby streets, adding to problems there.

One rail user said: “I have parked in the supermarket car park for years and no-one has kicked up a fuss. We go shopping or to visit friends in Ipswich and then come back. It's a big car park, I don't see any problem.

“Now I am having to park in Glenfield Avenue by the police station and I think several others are, too.”

Residents in the streets near the Co-op car park say they are already suffering on-street parking problems.

Staff at the police station, visitors to the Conservative Club, and parents dropping off and collecting youngsters from school already make the area congested.

One resident of Glenfield Avenue said: “It's been getting worse here for a long time, but I am sure the restrictions at the Co-op have added a few more. We are lucky in all having off-street parking.

It is understood National Express East Anglia and the site owners East of England Co-operative Society are hoping to have talks in the near future about providing a small number of spaces for rail passengers.

National Express spokesman Peter Meades said it was not always possible to provide parking at stations and the company was not under an obligation to do so.

“It is though part of the service we try to provide for passengers wherever possible,” he said.

“We are aware of the lack of parking at Felixstowe and we are currently considering what might be the best approach to improve the existing situation.

“Because of the location of the station - being fairly central - there is not a huge demand for parking.”

A spokeswoman for the Co-op said the supermarket car park was for shoppers.

“We made the changes because some people were stopping in the car park all day, preventing our customers from using it. Since we made the changes the flow is better and more people are using it,” she said.

Should Felixstowe have a car park for rail passengers? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk