COMMUTER parking on a Winchester road is causing residents to ‘take their lives into their own hands’, a meeting heard.

Parking restrictions on Garnier Road in St Cross is flushing commuters in to nearby streets - that’s according to Nelson Road resident Steve Jarvis.

He said the main problem is with Fivefields, Petersfield and Nelson roads, the Partnership and Community Together meeting (PACT) heard on Tuesday.

“They park along both sides of the road, including the side with the grass verge,” he said.

“It makes it difficult to drive there, and sometimes I come home and have nowhere to park. There are cars all along the junction, and trying to get out of there, you take your life into your hands. I know it will be 20 miles per hour along there soon, but even so.”

In March Winchester City Council’s traffic and parking committee approved restrictions that saw four hour bays and parking restraints along Garnier Road into Bull Drove, extending to the A31 Bar End roundabout.

However, capping parking at the Garnier Road recreational car park is a matter of ongoing debate between the council and The Remarkable Group, based at the road’s landmark Pump House.