​GCHQ workers could be given permits to leave their cars in a Hester’s Way car park in a bid to ease traffic on residential streets.

A total of 60 to 70 spaces could be provided in Coronation Square car park for workers from the Benhall Government listening post.

The move follows complaints from residents that staff have been parking their cars in residential streets around the ‘Doughnut’ and walking to work. The problem is said to stem from contracted workers rather than full-time GCHQ employees.

Council papers state the spaces would be given to staff in the form of season tickets for Monday to Friday. Cheltenham Borough Council would get £24,000 from GCHQ per year for as long as the agreement is in place – if it goes ahead.

But John Grover, chairman of the Benhall Residents’ Association, said he has mixed feelings about the idea.

He said: “It could alleviate parking where we are, but it’s not just us in Benhall, it’s in other places too. There are probably well over 200 cars from GCHQ parking in different places. It’s not the staff, it’s sub-contractors who are parking here.

“It’s good in one respect but it could deprive other people from parking there.”

Mr Grover said there was a particular issue in Whittington Road, with people parking on the bend.

But borough councillor Jacky Fletcher, who represents Benhall and The Reddings, has welcomed the idea to use Coronation Square’s car park.

She said: “It’s excellent. The car park is underused. It will take some of the burden off the surrounding streets around the GCHQ site.”

Meanwhile, John Morris, cabinet member for built environment, said: “It’s big car park which is under used. The issue I still have to bottom out is I want to make sure this doesn’t become an overflow car park for GCHQ.”

Councillor John Webster, cabinet member for finance and community development, said the move would raise money for the council’s budget and take traffic off the streets.

GCHQ said it was working closely with Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Police, Gloucestershire Highways and residents to find ways of resolving the parking problems in the residential streets around Benhall.

A spokeswoman said: “One of the proposed solutions is to make spare capacity in the Coronation Square Car Park available to GCHQ staff.

“The scheme is still very much in discussion stages but could mean that GCHQ staff will be able to purchase tickets to use the car park on a daily basis. The figures used by CBC in their budget proposals for 2010/11 are very much provisional projections of the revenue that this would generate and there is still much work to be done before the scheme comes to fruition.”

She said car parking problems around the GCHQ site are caused by the lack of space on site – a result of the planning policies in place when approval was originally given for the GCHQ doughnut building.

The parking restrictions affect contractors and permanent staff alike.

She said GCHQ has been proactive in dealing with the problem and has come up with a range of initiatives to address the problem.

These include an improved car park management scheme on site, an additional cross town shuttle bus to make better use of parking at the Oakley site and a green travel plan to encourage more staff to use public transport, car share, cycle or walk to work.

She said: “We hope that with the cooperation of residents, local councillors and police that we can make significant improvements to this frustrating issue.”

The budget papers will be presented to the borough council’s cabinet for agreement on Tuesday and to the full council on Friday, February 12.