VISITORS to the Great Western Hospital now face being fined if they don't buy an 80p an hour ticket and park their cars in bays.

And like motorists using car parks across Swindon, they will be fined £30 which doubles if not paid within 14 days for illegal parking.

The new rules are likely to anger visitors who have complained of a lack of parking spaces since the hospital opened.

Some say they have no option but to use their cars because of public transport problems or because they are too infirm.

The Great Western Hospital has 1,400 spaces, with 75 per cent reserved for visitors and the remainder for staff.

Guy Bardoe, the hospital's environmental project co-ordinator, said the change was merely a reversion to the system that operated at the old Princess Margaret Hospital.

He added that limits on the number of parking spaces, along with fines for unauthorised parking, were one of the conditions of the council's planning permission for the hospital.

Meanwhile, negotiations are underway to build a third park and ride scheme at the Great Western Hospital.

Swindon Council currently runs two services from The Copse in Penhill and in Wroughton.

But they are proving so successful that the council and the local Swindon and Marlborough NHS trust have been holding talks about the possibility of locating a £1.3 million scheme at Commonhead.

Funding from central Government towards the costs of the project has already been secured and the scheme would form an integral part of the council's local transport plan.

Councillors have been holding talks with senior directors at the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trusts about purchasing the land, which lies to the east of the £150 million hospital, where 750 car park spaces would be built. It is hoped the project will be underway in early 2004.

Council leader Kevin Small (Lab, Western) said: "This council is serious about promoting these types of environmentally-friendly schemes. What we have now got to do is negotiate the purchase of the land.

"This scheme has been accounted for in the revenue budget and it is our intention to locate Park and Ride schemes at all four points of the compass in Swindon. We already have schemes in the north and south and while nothing is certain this proves we are serious and hopefully it will be the trigger for people to use this type of transport."

The NHS trust bought the 14 acres of land in question for an undisclosed price from Henry Davidson (formerly Concept) when the developer pulled out of a scheme to build a hotel, restaurant, park and ride facility and fast food outlets.

The estimated £100,000 start-up costs would be meet by taxpayers' money with the scheme eventually becoming self-funding.

A new park and ride would also increase the number of buses travelling to and from the Great Western Hospital, which many people believe to be too infrequent at present.

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust redevelopment director, Nigel Hodson, said: "It is our land, but we are not in the business of arguing with the council. This park and ride has always been a plan of the borough council's and if they approach us then we would be quite happy to negotiate."