A GP surgery has taken action to protect its staff from physical and verbal abuse from people who "inappropriately" leave their vehicles in the car park.

The Egerton and Dunscar Health Centre in Bromley Cross has struck a deal with management company Parkingeye to help with the problem of people parking there despite not using the site's services.

This has included parents on the school run.

Due to parking problems at the Darwen Road health centre in the past, staff members and patients have been unable to park their cars at the surgery.

After rolling out the new system three days ago (Tuesday), visitors to the health centre or pharmacy will need to input their car registration plate otherwise they will be hit with a "significant fine".

A spokesman for the health centre added: “This applies to all patients, even if you are only popping into surgery for a few minutes to drop off/collect something.

“There is a terminal in reception and one in the pharmacy to input your registration details.

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“We apologise for any inconvenience this causes to our patients, but we feel we have been left no other option to protect our patients and staff from verbal and physical abuse from people using our car park inappropriately.”

A spokesman for NHS buildings said: "The health and excellent care of patients at Egerton and Dunscar Health Centre is our priority and the parking system will help to ensure that secure parking is available for patients attending appointments as well as the staff who work there.”

Any money received from fines will be collected by Parkingeye, which will also deal with disputes instead of the surgery.

A Parkingeye spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we will provide parking management services at Egerton and Dunscar Health Centre.

“The measures are being put in place to ensure that patients and visitors can use the parking facilities when accessing services within the centre.

“The car park will also feature prominent and highly-visible signage which will advise patients and visitors on how to use the car park responsibly.”