Anger over parking at Royal Berkshire Hospital

Sandra Breen, 78, from Goring-on-Thames was attending Royal Berkshire Hospital on January 9 for an appointment at the eye clinic, accompanied by her husband.

"We arrived there so early because we knew we would have trouble parking. We got there for 10am for a 10:30am appointment," Sandra said.

After driving in circles for 20 minutes, Sandra left her husband in the car, where he proceeded to drive around for a further 40 minutes before finally parking up just five minutes before the end of Sandra's appointment.

"There were other cars there queuing and hoping a space would appear. There were other places where people were clearly desperate and were parking outside of bays," Sandra added.

"There were people parked in the most unbelievable places.

"My husband is 80 and he is not the most patient. He was getting fed up and anxious about my appointment."

She added that it was a waste of fuel and caused damage to the environment.

Previously Sandra took her husband to the hospital and admitted: "I sat in the car and cried because I had driven around for so long."

Sandra feels more should be done to make the car park more accessible.

"Perhaps the barrier should only allow cars in if there are spaces, as in shopping centres," Sandra said.

"The give way signs in the car park give priority to newcomers and those who have been driving around have to give priority to newcomers thereby losing their place in the queue."

A spokesperson for the Royal Berkshire Hospital said: "Due to the size of our site, and demand for services we are aware of the challenges some patients and visitors can experience when trying to park at Royal Berkshire Hospital.

"As a trust, we are committed to improving patient experience and in the last year we have launched new drop-off parking spaces, free parking for the first 30 minutes, free off-site parking for staff aimed at freeing up spaces for the public, and a dedicated Park and Ride service for staff and the public."