After a large trailer of canoes blocked the entrance to the car-park at Ross Sports Centre, fears were raised about the access for emergency vehicles in the event of an injury to a player.

At last week's meeting of Ross Town Council, Councillor Jenny Hyde queried whether a canoe hire company had an office at the Centre, she said she had seen a trailer of canoes which had blocked a large area of the car park.

Councillor Harry Bramer who is the Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for resources said: "I am not aware of it at all. It has not been done with Herefordshire Council's permission."

On Tuesday, the Mayor, Councillor John Edwards who is also chairman of the Sports Federation told The Ross Gazette: "I have been down to the Sports Centre and I have spoken to Halo. It is Halo's responsibility to see that the interests of the long-term lease-holders of the Sports Centre are not compromised and that the parking areas are kept completely free because of the possibility of an emergency.

"Halo told me that the canoe hire firm has not hired the building or the car-park. They have booked one room which was previously unused. They should not have put a notice put up on the building and Halo said that it will have to come down."

A spokesman for Halo said: "We agreed a one-off block booking with Ross-on-Wye Canoe Hire commencing from March 1st until the end of October 2010 in a part of the Centre that was previously unused. Halo are committed to maximising usage across all leisure facilities and opportunities available to people across Herefordshire, and bookings like this support that commitment.

"We value the feedback we receive from all of our customers, and welcome comments on the positive elements and the things we could improve on when people visit our Centres."

Ross Cricket Club has a 25 year lease at the Sports Centre and the lease held by Ros Town Football Club is being negotiated to cater for Ross Juniors. Other clubs also use the changing facilities.

The Ross Sports and Leisure Federation has recently paid £3,500 for a special feasibility study looking at ways to reverse what Councillor John Edwards, has called 'the shocking decline in the state of the Wilton Sports Centre.'