COUNCIL wardens could be parachuted in to bring and end to parking chaos at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

The Tele can reveal that hospital bosses are in talks with Inverclyde Council with a view to bringing in their enforcement officers to clampdown on abuse of parking spaces.

It follows growing concern that people with blue badges cannot get spaces near the entrance - and over drivers blocking ambulance bays.

Hundreds of local people have reacted to parking problems at the hospital and blasted a shortage of spaces.

On some occasions staff have had to step in and leave reminders on people's cars, warning against irresponsible parking.

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: "We want to ensure that patients and visitors are able to park when attending hospital.

"Unfortunately there are occasions when this is difficult due to inconsiderate parking.

"This is an issue that we keep under close review and as part of this we have held early discussions the council about monitoring the disabled places.

"On occasion our staff may place reminder notes on cars parked inconsiderately."

Parking at Inverclyde Royal, which is free and has no time limits, has long been an issue.

At visiting times and during clinic opening hours there are often examples of people parking their cars on double yellow lines and cars with no blue badge displayed being left in disabled bays.

Some local people have called for health board bosses to free up space in the clogged car park by clearing the large grass area at the fence on Larkfield Road.

The council says that if its wardens are drafted in then their role would be limited.

An Inverclyde Council spokesperson said: “Discussions are taking place over our enforcement officers monitoring the disabled bays only at IRH, at the request of the health board, to help tackle inconsiderate parking and ensure blue badge holders can access them.

“However, we have not yet taken on these enforcement responsibilities and there is no set timescale for when this will begin.”