Dismay as concrete blocks close car park

Many residents have long used the land at The Beeches Hotel when dropping off their children at the nearby Wood Fold Primary School.

It was understood that the owners of the hotel and restaurant in School Lane had an informal agreement to allow villagers to use the site due to limited parking space closer to the school in Green Lane.

But The Beeches closed down overnight in unexplained circumstances in January,

The venue’s car park remained unrestricted even after liquidators were brought in, but last week, blockades were suddenly put in place to stop any drivers from using the car park. Should parents now be forced to park on the side of the road outside the school instead, there could be further woes heaped on the already manic traffic situation in the area.

Standish Voice, a neighbourhood forum, said they were disappointed that the car park would no longer be available for parents.

A spokesman said: “It reinforces the need for a new public car park in the centre of Standish. We cannot rely on private car park owners to solve the problems of a lack of community parking. As we have seen with store car parks, private operators can change how they operate - after all, it is their land.”

Standish Voice said it had approached Wigan Council to find out if it had any involvement in the car park closure, but that the planning department confirmed it had no knowledge of the barrier being installed, believing it to be a measure put in place by the owners or administrators to protect the building.

Liquidation firm CG Recovery, which was appointed to the administration of The Beeches, was unavailable for comment.