Disabled

parking

spaces

petition DISABLED shoppers are hopeful of a change of heart by Burnley council to allow them more parking spaces near the town centre.

A major improvement scheme now under way in Lower St James' Street would have meant that only three cars would have been allowed to park outside the Shopmobility base on the street.

But after raising a 100-name petition in just four days and enlisting the support of Burnley MP Peter Pike, disabled campaigners won talks with Council Labour leader Stuart Caddy and senior town hall officials to discuss their concerns.

Disabled representatives Jean Stott and Meg Harding later said the meeting went well and concerns were fully expressed.

They told council bosses that only three spaces had been allocated outside the Shopmobility base where 20-30 disabled orange badge holders normally park.

They appealed for the number of disabled parking spaces be doubled to six.

And they won a promise from Coun Caddy that the council would fully consider the request and return with an answer next week.

In a joint statement the two campaigners said later: "We realise this will not be enough allocated parking on Lower St. James Street, Burnley to cover all parking for disabled Shopmobility users and volunteers, but we have tried to consider all other Lower St. James Street users. Therefore we are hopeful the council will agree to our request."

They added: "If our request is met, we hope that Burnley's Shopmobility will be able to continue to provide this excellent service by recruiting more able bodied helpers to take wheelchair/scooters to surrounding disabled parking areas.

"But we must impress on Burnley Borough Council this extra parking is vital for Burnley's Shopmobility to continue to provide this service to disabled people in Burnley and the surrounding areas."

Coun Caddy was unavailable to comment.