CALLS for a drop-off bay at Feltham station, where drivers were hit with more than £400,000 of parking fines in a year, have been rejected.

Motorists have long complained about the lack of temporary parking facilities at the station in New Road to drop off and pick up passengers.

A Freedom of Information request submitted last September revealed Hounslow Council had generated £338,000 in parking fines since cameras were installed at the site just over a year earlier - with a further £69,000 outstanding.

In November last year, Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, handed London Mayor Boris Johnson a 316-signature petition calling for a drop-off point to be created at the station.

She claimed a rarely-used bus stand at the station could easily be converted to stop drivers falling foul of parking restrictions.

However, at last Tuesday's cabinet meeting, councillors were told too many buses served the station to justify sacrificing one of the four stands.

According to a report by council officers, although stand C is used mainly for occasional shuttle services to Bedfont Lakes and Stockley Park, it is needed by other buses during peak-hour congestion.

London Buses has asked that the stand be kept free for use as a termination point and in case it decides to expand its services in future.

"Unfortunately, due to the number of buses at this site, there is no space for a pick-up and set-down bay for private vehicles," the report concludes. "All the stands are therefore well marked and enforced to keep them clear for buses and coaches."

However, officers pointed out that drivers could use the stand all day at weekends and outside the hours of 7.30am-5.30pm on weekdays, when the shuttle service operates.

The report also pointed out that council car parks were available close by in New Road and Bedfont Lane.

Liberal Democrat campaigners, who organised the petition, had called for a three-minute grace period for drivers picking up or dropping off passengers at the station.

Hounslow Council said it would continue to monitor the situation.