A WHEELCHAIR bound dad says his life is being put in danger by by construction workers leaving vehicles on the pavement and forcing him out onto the busy road.

Robert Kerr says workers from the building site at the new £20m Greenock Health Centre are blocking the pavement in Ann Street with vans.

The 42-year-old of Prospecthill View, says he's been forced to take his wheelchair out into a pothole-riddled road just to get past.

The college photography student is worried that he will end up being knocked down.

He told the Tele: "Every day I'm forced out onto the road - it's a joke.

"The message I want to put out is simple - 'stop parking on the pavements'.

"Disabled people have not got a voice, but there are so many wheelchair users where I live.

"There's one woman I know who cares for a girl in a wheelchair and she is being forced to go onto the road too.

"It's also affecting women and men who are pushing prams, and elderly people too - they are all having to go onto the road.

"There's areas where they could be parking, so there's no excuse for it."

Councillor Colin Jackson has taken up Robert's complaint with BAM Construction, which is working on the new centre.

He said: "There is a sign up which states that BAM are 'considerate contractors' but they are not.

"They are supposed to be considerate to the neighbours but that has not happened here.

"As much as I welcome the new health centre there has been no consideration given to the impact its had on the residents and tenants.

"They are suffering and they will continue to until this is done."

Bosses at BAM Construction have now apologised to Mr Kerr.

A statement released by the firm said: "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience Mr Kerr has been experiencing, which we agree is not acceptable.

"Following discussions with Inverclyde Roads Department and the local community traffic wardens, all site staff and operatives have been advised to avoid parking on Ann Street to ease congestion in the area.

"We carry out daily checks to ensure our site operatives are complying with our car parking controls and consult with our neighbours to ensure they are effective.

"We have also created a disabled parking bay by adjusting our perimeter fencing line on Wellington Street."

The company added that it believes other parties are parking irresponsibly.

They said: "It is a busy residential location and the surrounding roads are used by other contractors working in the area.

"We are aware of other people parking on the pavement and as they do not work for us we do not have any authority to prevent this.

"We have been trying to arrange a meeting with Councillor Jackson over the previous few weeks to explain the parking controls in detail and assure him that we have daily controls in place to prevent our sub-contractors parking on Ann Street.

"We will continue to do all we can to control parking of our staff and operatives to avoid any inconvenience to the local community."

Robert says the problem has also highlighted the poor condition of the pavement and road.

He says the rutted surfaces are damaging his wheelchair and putting his safety at risk.

He added: "I want the pavements and the road fixed they are a shambles.

"The surface is unsafe and one pothole actually caused me to fall out my chair.

"The front fork of my wheelchair snapped on another occasion and my chair lost control and kept rolling down the hill."

Inverclyde Council expressed sympathy with Robert about the parking situation and said Ann Street is on a 'reserve' list for upgrades.

A spokesman said: “At the moment it isn’t illegal to park on the pavement but that is due to change next year.

"Parking on the pavement forces pedestrians out onto the road and can also break paving slabs.

"We would urge the contractor to encourage their employees to take a more considerate approach to where they leave their vehicles.

"Last year we spent over £3.6m repairing and improving local roads and pavements.

"This is a never-ending job and bad weather, particularly heavy rain and frost, adds to the problem.

"Despite our massive year on year investment we still don’t have enough money to bring local roads and pavements up to standard."

The spokesperson told the Tele that a team will inspect Ann Street when construction work on the centre is finished, with a view to checking if contractors are responsible for any damage.