People have reacted angrily to an application for a Lake District car park they say will cause chaos and put lives in danger.
The site is to sit on land next to Applethwaite Green care home in Phoenix Way, Windermere.
The county council says the car park, which would feature 21 additional spaces, bringing the total at the site to 29, would help to ease parking issues in the town.
But residents of the road and surrounding streets say Phoenix Way would not be able to comfortably accommodate the increase in traffic.
Suzanne Fitzsimmons said she had concerns about access for emergency vehicles if the car park led to queueing traffic – saying the narrow width of the road would leave fire engines and ambulances unable to get through.
Isabella Dolny expressed fears about the safety of elderly residents heading to the shops.
She said: “There isn’t a pavement in Phoenix Way, and it is really, really worrying. It will be very dangerous for them.”
Bill Smith, chairman of the Bowness and Windermere Community Care Trust, which runs the nearby Phoenix Centre, said: “You have got to look at the junction at the top.
“Anything that causes a little bit of a hold-up here will quickly back onto the A591, which will be dangerous.”
Roger Wilson, whose house fronts onto the A591, referenced the traffic that turned onto the A-road from Elleray Road.
“There are chevrons all the way to the corner of Phoenix Way, and it’s where lots and lots of tourists stop to check their maps to find out if they are going the right way, so there are always people parked outside our house,” he said. “The car park just adds to it.”
Residents also felt angry that they had not been consulted about the application beforehand, although a Cumbria County Council spokesman said an applicant had no obligation to consult members of the public prior to submission.
The spokesman said residents would be consulted by the Lake District National Park Authority, to which the application has been submitted, over the coming weeks.
He said it would be possible to see the A591 junction from the improved access into the proposed car park.
