A COUPLE of years ago, I read a number of news reports about the size of car parking spaces causing problems for drivers up and down the country.

The problems, according to the reports, arise because the size of our cars is getting bigger while councils and private car park companies are still using outdated government and industry guidelines.

According to the Accident Exchange, the popularity of big SUV-style cars is a major factor in a surge of 35 per cent in parking prangs which combined have a total cost of £1.4bn per year.

If you are a proud owner of an Audi Q7, Mercedes GL-Class or a BMW X5, your car will be just too large for an average parking bay.

And it’s not just owners of oversized SUVs who are likely to face problems. Smaller top sellers such as the Vauxhall Corsa are now 16 per cent larger than 15 years ago.

The problem is now so bad, car parking incidents account for more than 30 per cent of all accidents.

With the added challenge of pillars and tight ramps in multi-storey car parks and tight corners and narrow roads in between rows of parked cars, manoeuvring larger vehicles is now making some car parks ‘no-go’ areas.

Which is exactly how I feel about the car park shenanigans at the new Junction Nine retail park on Winwick Road (I somehow yearn for the time when it was smaller and still called Alban Retail Park).

I have spent more time than I would like recently negotiating the Wacky Races that is this particular car park.

Being completely fair, there are some good points.

The new, traffic light controlled entrance on Winwick Road has got rid of the bottleneck at the Hawleys Lane exit and the new section of the car park where the retail park has been extended is fine.

Thankfully the ruts and potholes have now gone on the ‘old’ bit as the car park has been resurfaced but to be honest a significant opportunity has been missed.

The roadways are still too narrow, the corners are still too sharp and I could be wrong here but the actual parking bays look like they have been repainted even narrower than they were before.

Over the weekend, I was parked up outside one of the major stores for a good 15 minutes or so and watching drivers navigating the car park almost became a spectator sport.

Twice I witnessed car doors being opened and slammed into the vehicle next to it.

There were two or three near misses, a stand-off at one of the narrow, sharp corners with neither driver giving way and finally, an angry exchange between two frustrated drivers.

I’m sure the powers that be will insist their parking bays meet the minimum standards but I for one will be keeping well clear unless I absolutely have to go there.

While I’m on the subject of parking, it would be interesting to know what the plans are for the new, giant car park in Warrington town centre.

Are the parking bays going to allow for Audi Q7 drivers I wonder?

n I went for a walk around Warrington on a quiet Sunday afternoon recently and couldn’t help but notice just how depressing Bridge Street looks at the moment with all the empty shops.

But the new market is very smart indeed and we can all hope that when the Bridge Street development is completed it is just as smart as the market.

We live in hope.

n I got an email from Warrington Borough Council this week giving me an update on the controversial Western Link Red Route plans which are to be discussed next week.

I’m happy that fewer properties will be demolished than was previously planned if the scheme goes ahead but I am less impressed with the proposed costs going up yet again to more than £200 million.

I can’t help but wonder exactly what the final cost will be.