SOME members of staff at Andover War Memorial Hospital could boycott the new car parking charges when they come into force on 1 January.

Staff representative Susan Turner said although there was no organised boycott planned, a number of staff have declared their intention to dodge the fees.

They have said they will either park in the streets around the hospital or park at the hospital and refuse to pay. "One of the options might be to park on site and refuse to pay," said Mrs Turner.

"They can't clamp everyone - it would be chaos. "But a lot of staff say they are not going to use the car park and park in the side streets instead. But there is no organised campaign."

She could not understand why the Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust board had agreed to reduce the car parking fees - following a suggestion by Test Valley Borough Council to match public car parking fees - but only for the first year.

"Why not keep the reduction in fees for the foreseeable future?

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