WESTON Town Council has asked bosses at Weston General Hospital to lower their parking charges. Residents living near the building in Grange Road, Uphill, say hospital visitors park in the streets around the site to avoid high car park charges. Councillor

WESTON Town Council has asked bosses at Weston General Hospital to lower their parking charges.Residents living near the building in Grange Road, Uphill, say hospital visitors park in the streets around the site to avoid high car park charges.Councillors have held a meeting with residents and the hospital's chief executive Mark Gritten to discuss the problem.Council leader Robert Payne said: "The hospital has made some changes but it hasn't improved the situation and residents are disappointed."A lot of people are not using the car parks because of the high charges and clogging up residential streets instead so we have asked the hospital to look at reviewing the parking structure."But the hospital staff don't seem very keen, saying the revenue the car park produces is used for running the hospital."To my mind that is not a problem as more people would use the car park if the charges were lower, making the end profit the same."A hospital spokesman said: "Following the meeting with Uphill residents, we are analysing car parking trends and undertaking financial modelling."Possible options under consideration include extending the 15-minute free parking period or reducing the cost of the first hour, but it remains to be seen whether these are financially viable."Nothing is likely to change before the beginning of the next financial year and it is worth recording that our car parking charges have not increased since April 2005.