PLANS to remove parking bays from Purewell have met with fierce opposition from residents and local councillors.

Yellow Buses has urged Christchurch council to take away 16 spaces to speed up the journey time of its buses.

But local residents fear existing parking problems will be made even worse and that speeding drivers could become a hazard in the area.

Now they are planning to hand in a 400-signature petition to a meeting of the full council on December 1 in the hope of urging councillors to refuse the application at a Community Services committee meeting on December 16.

A spokesman for Purewell and Stanpit Partnership and Communities Together (PACT) said: “There is already a severe parking issue in this part of the ward with Moffat Road, Cameron Road and Livingstone Road over-populated with parked cars.

“If the parking bays were removed, one has to ask where these cars will go. “The businesses of Purewell will also suffer if parking is removed.”

Yellow Buses is claiming the parked cars add six minutes to the journey times of its buses but Cllr Ray Nottage told the Daily Echo: “The bus company are blaming that part of the road for causing delays but I do not believe that to be the case.”

A spokesman for Christchurch council stressed the petition covers a stretch of Purewell where there are only six parking spaces although the total number being considered for removal is 16.