A lack of parking spaces seems to be a recurring issue at Lynch Wood near Napier Place, with Friday, March 22 reported to be the worst yet.

Halls Chemist, based in Napier Place, Orton Wistow began the roll-out on Thursday, February 4, on an appointment-only basis, thanks to the efforts of the Damani family.

It’s based within a small shopping centre and shares space with a community centre that houses a pre-school, a Tesco Metro and an ATM among other amenities. The shopping area has approximately 47 parking bays; and has recently added three disabled bays.

The chemist also took over and refurbished a former Chinese restaurant, Beijing Rendezvous Peking, to turn it into a vaccination hub.

There were initial concerns regarding the chosen location, with residents flagging the potential traffic problems that could arise due to lack of parking in the area, with patients driving from further afield for their appointments.

Following the congestion, Green Cllr Julie Howell approached the council for solutions to this problem that has left local residents frustrated. Although she has applauded the efforts of the pharmacy as they joined in the historic vaccination programme.

As from later this week, Peterborough City Council is trialling a solution to ease the congestion in the area.

It is believed the clearway on nearby Lynch Wood will be temporarily suspended and signs put in place to direct vaccination centre traffic to park there, rather than in Napier Place.

Cllr Howell said: "The traffic chaos that we experienced on Friday along Wistow Way was unacceptable.

"Motorists were parking along the grass verges and on occasion cars were forced to drive down the wrong side of the road. The car park at Napier Place is small, and when the local primary school, under-fives group and vaccination centre are all open at the same time, the volume of traffic is more than the local infrastructure can handle.

“I asked the council for additional help, and an agreement has been reached whereby the clearway on nearby Lynch Wood will be temporarily suspended and signs put in place to direct vaccination centre traffic to park there rather than in Napier Place.

“We don’t know how successful this will be until we try it and I thank local residents for their continued patience. We had hoped that some of the businesses at Lynch Wood might agree to let some of their car parks be used for vaccination parking, but unfortunately the council couldn’t get agreement for this.

“NHS England decides where vaccination centres should be sited, but it would appear the pressure on parking wasn’t adequately considered. Halls Pharmacy has done an amazing job in getting so many people vaccinated, and we thank them for their incredible work.”

NHS England previously responded to Peterborough Matters' concerns, where we asked them if an appropriate risk assessment for the community pharmacy was undertaken.

A spokesperson said: “This is the biggest vaccination programme ever undertaken by the NHS and it is natural for a programme of this scale to occasionally have some teething problems, but we are working hard to make the process as smooth as we can for local people coming in for their vaccinations.

“We are looking forward to more of the local community being invited for their vaccine as the programme is rolled out in the weeks and months ahead.

“This site (Orton Wistow) is part a small shopping centre that has free parking spaces, good access and public transport.

“Feedback has been that the site has been well-received by the public, but the NHS has arranged a meeting with the site so we can collectively consider all of the feedback received.

“NHS staff are doing an incredible job to deliver what it is the largest vaccination programme in our history, at the same time as dealing with high levels of Covid-19 hospital patients.”

This article has been amended; an earlier version said that none of the bays are disabled bays and there are no drop curbs, as was the case when vaccinations started. However these have apparently recently been added. We apologise for the error.