A WINCHESTER motorist says poor signage at a city centre car park is tantamount to an "accident waiting to happen".

Terry Wall says he regularly sees drivers at The Brooks flouting the rules in their bid to grab spaces.

The car park, which he says he uses three times a week, operates a one-way system with no-entry signs and road markings barring entry.

But grandfather-of-two Mr Wall, of Westminster Gate, claims that motorists regularly ignore the signs, which are small, above eye-level, and easy to miss.

He says he has studied the car park, managed by the city council, to try to find out why the system has not been improved, only to draw a blank.

"There is supposed to be a one-way system, but people turn against the flow and just blithely go round in the wrong direction.

"It is most unusual not to see at least one vehicle jumping into a nearby space as they leave the entry ramp, or cruise around the central area in the wrong direction.

"When informed of the mistake, the answer is always: 'I didn't see the sign,'" he said.

"It is an accident waiting to happen," he added, saying it was only a matter of time before two cars collided or a pedestrian was hit.

Of particular concern, he says, is an area, set aside for mothers and children, which is adjacent to a "no entry" sign.

"A mother might be looking out for vehicles coming in the expected direction and not notice them coming from the opposite direction."

The semi-retired sales trainer is calling for the signs to be improved and proper enforcement taken against drivers who ignore the rules.

"The design of the car park is one-way, so it should be enforced with proper signage. They are there for a purpose."

A spokesman for the city council emphasised that there had not been any accidents in the car park and no complaints about the signs.

He added that it was not an offence to drive the wrong way around a car park because it is not on the public highway and the signs were there as a warning and for safety reasons. "It is doubtful whether enlarging the signs would make any impact," he said.

But he said the parking management at the car park would carry out an inspection to see if any improvements could be made.