PLANS to introduce residents' only parking opposite Fairfield Hospital are set to go ahead, bringing an end to years of problems for nearby householders.

Since the closure of Bury General Hospital and the transfer of services to Fairfield, residents living in Rochdale Old Road and the surrounding area have made numerous complaints to Bury Council about being unable to park outside their own home.

It is believed staff and visitors to the hospital are parking outside the grounds to avoid car park charges, causing a ripple effect to neighbouring streets as residents fight for spaces.

Now, 17 'residents only' bays are to be introduced opposite the entrance to the hospital in a bid to ease the problem. Original plans to include several surrounding streets, including Holden Avenue, New Hall Road and Rough Hill Lane, were scrapped following a formal consultation which received a large number of objections from those residents.

But the majority of support for the scheme came from homeowners in Rochdale Old Road meaning a reduced version will be introduced within the next three months.

One Rochdale Old Road resident had to send workmen away from her home as they were unable to park near her property.

She said: "There is no access to the back of my house so I can only park out the front. Often when I leave at 9am for work you can guarantee someone is waiting to jump in my spot and I tend to stay at work later until I know the cars are likely to have gone. It makes me think twice about going out."

A spokesman for Bury Council said: "Originally we consulted residents over a wider area in Fairfield because, although the problem is concentrated to the immediate area surrounding the hospital, we felt that a ripple effect could be happening.

"In the meeting there was a lot of objection from residents within the wider area so a decision was taken to implement a reduced scheme, limited to properties located immediately opposite the hospital.

"We are now in the process of liaising with residents within the wider area to inform them of this which will be followed by further discussions with those living immediately opposite. We anticipate that the works will not start until the New Year. "