COUNCIL chiefs have renewed calls to extend Winchester's park-and- ride service.

The Royal Hampshire County Hospital is desperate to ease its parking crisis by encouraging staff to use public transport.

They want to see the service extended up Romsey Road to help ease the problem.

However county and city councillors have expressed frustration over the slow progress in organising the extension.

Enlarging the route would also benefit workers at the police headquarters, University College and Winchester prison.

County councillor Pam Peskett said staff at all four sites desperately needed the extension. "They would like to use the park-and-ride facilities, if only the buses went anywhere near them," she said, speaking at the Winchester Highway and Transport Advisory Panel.

A council spokesman said the sole obstacle in the way of extending the bus route was funding.

Until that is agreed the pilot scheme won't be launched.

While the hospital and county council have agreed to pay for a six-month trial, long-term funding is still unresolved. A council report said the police, hospital and college had refused to subsidise the extension.

But a hospital spokesman said the issue of funding was still being discussed.

One long-term solution to parking at the RHCH was a new park and ride scheme at Bushfield Camp which has been delayed because of the controversy over the Bar End extension.

The panel welcomed news that buses would run until 9pm for a six-month trial, starting today as reported in the Daily Echo earlier this week.

The original car park at Barfield Close, Bar End, which has 147 spaces, was over 90 per cent full every day, a report by officers stated.

It revealed that the 470-space extension, which opened in January after years of legal battles, was around half-full every day.

A storage compound for bicycles would be built at Bar End over the coming months.