Thousands of NHS patients and visitors in England will soon be able to access free hospital car parking, something already underway at Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary's community hospitals, under a new approach set out by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Currently, NHS trusts are responsible for making their own car parking arrangements, including setting any charges. But the community hospitals in Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary have long insisted that car parking should be free, even if at times, there are complaints about over crowding.

From April, all 206 hospital trusts in England will be expected to provide free car parking to groups that may be frequent hospital visitors, or those disproportionately impacted by daily or hourly charges for parking, including:

- blue badge holders

- frequent outpatients who have to manage long-term conditions

Free parking will also be offered at specific times of day to certain groups, including:

- parents of sick children staying in hospital overnight

- staff working night shifts

That change will apply to the main RD&E hospitals at Wonford and Heavitree in Exeter.

Technology has helped a number of trusts to improve their parking, and the Department of Health and Social Care will work with the NHS in the coming months to identify and spread practical parking options that can make the most difference quickly. These could include:

- Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, which use camera technology to scan car number plates

- ticket or token systems where eligible people can them redeem free parking, or receive a refund

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "This month millions of people put their trust in this government to deliver. One of the concerns mentioned regularly on the doorsteps was that vulnerable people, and staff working nights, have to pay for hospital car parking. So we are today delivering on our manifesto commitment and setting out our new approach to NHS hospital parking charges."

The charges for parking at RD&E in Exeter are currently:

-20 Minutes free parking.

-£2.50 for up to two hours.

-£4.50 for up to four hours.

-£8.50 for all eight hours.

-£26.00 for a weekly ticket.