CARELESS parking could stop ambulances reaching elderly residents on a city centre street, a relative warned.

On Sundays, Lower Brook Street is often reduced to a single lane near the junction with Friarsgate because motorists park on the single yellow line to access Winchester Farmers’ Market.

There are several retirement flats on the road. Sarah Goodchild, whose mother lives in Godson House, said this could block ambulance drivers and has called on traffic chiefs to paint double yellow lines.

She said: “They’ve got no common sense not to park on a corner like that. The parking around there is a nightmare on a Sunday because of the farmers’ market.

“How is an ambulance supposed to get around that corner?”

Local councillor Sue Nelmes said problems were possible on “every single road” in the city centre but had never affected ambulance access.

She said: “Though I can appreciate the fear is there, whether the reality is [there] is a different matter. Ambulance drivers are very inventive.

“The expense of putting in a stupid thing like a double yellow line is amazing. Whether the expense is worth it I’m not too sure.

“If per chance there was a problem we would have to address it.”