More bollards to be added to city centre street

The new bollards will be added close to where Granby Street meets Northampton Street

A new set of automatic safety bollards will be installed in Leicester from Monday.

Leicester City Council will begin the work in Granby Street to extend the city's central pedestrian zone.

During the two-week project, the council said vehicles would have no access to the pedestrianised section of Granby Street, from Northampton Street to St Georges Way.

Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for transport and environment, said the works were originally planned for next year but had been brought forward "to help address concerns that businesses have raised about illegal and nuisance parking on this part of Granby Street".

Pedestrian access will be maintained during the work, and all businesses will be open as normal, the council confirmed.

Once the work is completed, all vehicles will have access to the pedestrian zone during certain hours for loading and unloading.

The city council said the new bollards would automatically lower when a vehicle approached to allow entry between 05:00 to 11:00 Sunday to Friday, and 05:00 to 09:00 on Saturdays.

Outside of those times, the automatic bollards will be in operation to prevent unauthorised vehicles from entering.

Whittle said: "Work to install automatic bollards at other locations across the city centre has already tightened up access for vehicles to the pedestrian zone in the city centre.

"It is helping us to more effectively clamp down on those who abuse the system and continue to provide an environment for shopping and leisure activities where people can feel safe."

Further work to install additional static bollards will also be carried out, but this will not impact on access, the council added.