Travel warning as hospital car park work begins

Disruption is expected while the RUH carries out work on its car park as part of a carbon-cutting project

People are being warned of potential travel disruption as work begins in the main car park of a hospital, as part of a £21m carbon-cutting plan.

The Royal United Hospitals Bath (RUH) is carrying out the building work on the P1 main car park and roads within the hospital's site until the end of January.

While the car park will remain fully open during that time, some of the roads on the hospital site may be partially closed to allow work to be carried out.

A hospital spokesperson said: "We are carrying out essential building work on roads within the RUH site as part of our large-scale decarbonisation project, Project Clean Heat."

The spokesperson added: "Project Clean Heat is the RUH's large-scale project that will see us replace a number of our gas boilers with more energy-efficient equipment such as air-and water-source heat pumps.

"We're also undertaking a number of other improvements such as increasing the number of solar panels on site."

The hospital said that once complete in 2026, the project would see them save 3,200 tonnes of carbon every year.

"That's the equivalent of more than 14,000 return journeys from Bath to Edinburgh in a typical petrol car," the spokesperson said.

The work is being funded by a £21m government grant from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.

'Anxious time'

The hospital said it was aiming to keep disruption to a minimum and it advised motorists to allow plenty of time to travel and to use public transport where possible.

"We need to install electrical cables to power the new heating equipment.

"This needs to be laid under the car park and roads and is why this current phase of work is taking place," the spokesperson added.

Hospital leaders said they appreciated parking at RUH can present "a challenge during what can be an anxious time".

"We would encourage anyone with a particular concern to please get in touch," the spokesperson added.