TRADERS in Bulwell have blamed a new £23m service centre for a fall in business.

The Bulwell Riverside Joint Service Centre, which houses NHS, council and housing services, officially opened on January 30.

The building, which also contains a library, play centre and library, has proved popular with the community.

But nearby shops and businesses say staff and users of the centre are causing congestion and taking parking spaces that are normally used by their customers.

Mr and Mrs Singh, owners of the post office in Coventry Road, say their takings have halved.

"People who work at Riverside are parking on Coventry Road," said Mr Singh. "It is affecting us and our customers – our takings are down 50 per cent."

"We have been very quiet since the Riverside moved here – business has been really slow recently.

"Too many people stay all day which takes up a lot of room – some people also block our gate which we need to be able to get in and out.

"If they can't park here they will park at Wilkinson and use the post office in town. That is bad for business.

"There is a bit of grass outside the shop which could be turned into more spaces – we've got to see more parking somewhere."

Graham Braddock, 66, owner of Bradrail, in Main Street, says the arrangements are also affecting his business.

"The amount of parking on Coventry Road is terrible," he said.

"They are blocking entrances and when we have deliveries the lorries can't get in to make them. It's already affecting customers.

"Parking has always been a problem around here and the Riverside complex means that the situation is now even worse.

"There are a large number of businesses in such a concentrated area and simply not enough parking for all of them.

"We could have done with a multistorey car park – I have been on about it for some years.

"There is the grass behind our shop and I suggested there should be a car park there."

"Something has got to be done otherwise there will be a real long-term problem."

Gary Dykes, owner of K&M Autocentre Ltd, also in Main Street, has private parking, but he is still encountering problems.

"We have a sign up but people still ignore it, so I just keeping putting penalty notices on their cars," he said.

"They should have bought that land near to Riverside – they need more parking there otherwise I think it may get worse."

Steve Pepper, centre manager at Bulwell Riverside, said: "Through funding from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund we will be establishing Bulwell Riverside as a transport hub for the area.

"Later this year, we will provide real-time travel information via an electronic display which we hope will encourage more people to travel via public transport.

"There are limited parking facilities at the centre for those unable to travel by public transport and we are closely monitoring usage of these spaces."