FED-UP residents calling for parking restrictions in the streets surrounding Queen's Park Hospital have stepped up their campaign by handing in a second petition to council chiefs.

Residents are unhappy that staff and visitors' cars are blocking streets. But health bosses said they were powerless to stop drivers leaving cars outside the Blackburn hospital grounds.

The news comes a week after Old Bank Lane residents sent a petition to the council demanding action be taken to deter parking outside their homes.

Rita Adams, of Haslingden Road, said living close to the new Queen's Park Hospital development meant car parking spaces close to home were sometimes in short supply.

"We have the worst problems in Haslingden Road because we are a main route. Staff and visitors park on the road and we have raised this with the hospital on several occasions," she said.

Mrs Adams and neighbours contacted councillors and sent a petition to the council calling for parking restrictions.

However, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Queen's Park site, said its parking charges were reasonable and it was powerless to stop people parking in the streets.

A spokesman said: "The Trust has made every effort to provide sufficient parking spaces for patients, staff, visitors and contractors on the hospital site."

He added: "We sympathise with residents' concerns on this issue. However, if staff or visitors park on roads outside the hospital which are not restricted then we do not have any authority to intervene."