Changes are planned to the parking system at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon.

Barriers are to be installed and drivers will receive a token on arrival.

Payment will have to be made at a pay station before leaving, similar to the system used at Addenbrooke’s, in Cambridge.

The new arrangements are described in a report by IMA Transport Planning, in support of a planning application submitted to Huntingdonshire District Council for two new parking areas.

It says: “The pay-on-exit system will remove the need to pay for parking on arrival, which can cause additional ­anxiety, and will remove the need for penalty charges. It will also allow ­flexibility to discount or waive parking charges for certain patient groups.”

The layout of the main visitor car park is to be rearranged, including:

l Disabled spaces increasing from six to 25

l The introduction of six parent and child spaces

l Ten spaces for taxis and picking up or dropping off

l A two-lane entry to reduce queues

l Thirty spaces for staff will be moved

l Twenty-six extra spaces for patients/visitors

Two new car parking areas will be created for staff use, one of 112 spaces near the Mars Building and another for 33 vehicles at Elizabeth House.

The changes will result in a total of 1,297 spaces, an increase of 29. It is hoped the new parking areas will help contain vehicles to the hospital site, rather than drivers using neighbouring streets.

A spokesman for Circle, the company which manages the hospital, said there would be a number of changes in the coming months but creating a multi-storey car park would not be among them.

He said parking charges would remain the same at £2.50 a day, with discounts for cancer patients, child appointments and long-stay patients.