THE number of car parking spaces at a March lorry park will be more than doubled while its future use is reviewed.

Work on changing the layout again at City Road lorry park comes after it was relined in September to give lorries more space to manoeuvre. The changes sparked protests from the public.

The redesign will see the number of car parking bays rise from 13 to 34 and lorry bays will be reduced from 11 to six. Work could be carried out early in the new year to provide an improved balance between cars and lorries.

Fenland District Council’s overview and scrutiny policy panel heard at its latest meeting that a two-week survey had shown that lorries still use the facility, but at a much reduced level from the original 1999 layout.

Factors contributing to the change in use are thought to include the construction of the A141, the weight limit through the town centre and changes in both the rail and haulage industries.

Survey results show a maximum of seven lorries used the lorry park at any time - and that was on just three occasions. Most of the time no more than five lorries were parked.

While lorries always parked in marked bays, cars often parked outside of the marked bays even if there were marked bays free.

The survey concluded that the current provision for lorry parking exceeds demand, cars routinely park outside the marked bays, cars regularly park outside the time limits and there is generally sufficient capacity in City Road car park to accommodate any overflow from the lorry park.

Councillors will also ask Cambridgeshire County Council to look at parking regulations in City Road to improve access to the lorry park.

In the medium term consideration will be given to future requirements for both lorry and car parking capacity as part of March Market Town Transportation Strategy.

Funding for the short-term work, about �2,000, will come from existing service budgets.