A passionate defence was made today of a Colchester car park named and shamed as one of the tightest spots in the country.

A national survey of motorists placed St Mary's, on Balkerne Hill, high on a list of car parks with the narrowest spaces to park in.

But Richard Walker, parking services manager for Colchester Council, said he thought the 630-space facility was "one of the nicest car parks I have been in".

"St Mary's has excellent visibility, shallow ramps and wide lanes, and it's well looked-after," he said.

"I use it myself, and I've comfortably parked 4x4s and saloon cars without any difficulty.

"Had you said St John's I would be more understanding - the entrance is up a ramp, and it's not as open as St Mary's."

The building's pillars, which protrude into spaces making them even narrower, were drivers' top gripe.

There are no Government standards for how wide off-street parking spaces should be, but at 2.3m St Mary's spaces are in the middle of the 2.2 to 2.4m range set for on-street spaces.

Mr Walker said: "All multi-storey car parks are constrained by the pillars that support the structure, and most were designed in the 1960s, when cars were a lot smaller.

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