BARRIERS installed on the car park of Woolston Neighbourhood Hub are set to be altered imminently after a barrage of complaints from drivers.

Gates aimed at preventing travellers from accessing the car park were put in place by Warrington Borough Council last week, with a number of illegal encampments having been set up at the Hall Road site recently.

But motorists have expressed concerns at the tiny margin for error available when manoeuvring some larger cars and vans through the barriers.

Several are even believed to have scraped their vehicles on the newly-installed structures in the days since they were first put into use.

Leisure centre users described how the oddly-shaped barrier had caused ‘mayhem’ and ‘sheer chaos’.

Warrington Guardian:

Now, urgent improvements are planned by the council in order to fix the problem.

The barriers cost around £5,000 to install, with further alterations set to cost an estimated additional £5,000.

Chief executive Steven Broomhead told the Warrington Guardian: “I’ve paid a visit to Woolston hub, and a group of councillors have visited as well.

“We’ve seen people refusing to go through the barriers, and one or two people have claimed to have had scrapes.

“If that has happened, I do regret that and I’m sorry.

“I think we’ve all concluded that there will have to be some rapid improvements made to the access and egress – specifically signage, lighting, road markings and surfacing.

“The public asked for barriers to be installed, and that’s what we’ve done.

“We put the barriers in for a good reason, as the encampments have been very disruptive.

“We’re going to go back now and look at how we can improve them so that people can have safe and proper access to the car park.

“I’ve asked for very quick improvements to be made, and we will keep the matter under review.”