'Lorry drivers need a safe, secure place to park'

Hauliers have called for better parking provision across the network, saying they should not have to "park in lay-bys where they can't even go to the toilet".

Lesley O'Brien, of Freightlink Europe based in Halifax, has joined a national campaign urging MPs to tackle the shortage of safe parking spaces, which "forces drivers to park at the roadside where they are vulnerable".

It comes as residents in Rothwell on the outskirts of Leeds say lay-bys are being used by HGV drivers who leave rubbish and human waste behind.

The government said new plans set out that future distribution centres would need to provide adequate parking for lorries, to "stop them parking in unsuitable places."

Freightlink Europe has been operating from Halifax for 27 years, collecting and distributing goods across the country.

Many of the drivers can spend days at a time on the road which means "the driver's cab is their home," managing director O'Brien says.

She says her company insists drivers park at service stations or "safe parking spaces" because they have to consider the safety of the driver, the vehicle and the goods.

However, she understands the challenges facing drivers across the industry, where they are legally bound to take regular breaks, but a national shortage estimated to be 11,000 by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) means it isn't always easy and some drivers are forced to park in lay-bys without proper facilities.

O'Brien says: "Of course drivers want somewhere where they can be safe, where they can communicate with other drivers, where they can have a good nourishing meal, where they can have a shower.

"They don't want to be parking in lay-bys where they can't even go to the toilet."

She spoke at a parliamentary reception in London on Tuesday to raise the issue with MPs and urge them to back the RHA campaign for more "safe and secure" parking for drivers.

The lack of suitable provision has blighted Rothwell, which is close to the M1 and M62.

Local residents have told the BBC many of the lay-bys are increasingly used by HGV and delivery drivers for overnight stays, with rubbish frequently left behind.

Martin Low, chair of the Oulton and Woodlesford Neighbourhood Forum, says: "It's disgusting. There's human excrement either openly on the ground or in the bags.

"There's bottles of urine, there's an open latrine behind the hedge and similarly down at the churchyard in the village it's just the same actually, in the grounds of the churchyard it's absolutely shocking."

He has sympathy with the drivers because they lack facilities and says there are limited truck stops.

But he strongly believes "councils and the warehouse operators should be working to put those facilities in as part of any planning process".

Battle of the lay-bys in Rothwell as parked lorries block access

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Stewart Golton echoes the community's concerns and says it is a "poor situation".

He accepts that distribution centres are an area local authorities want to encourage for economic growth and jobs, but adds consideration must be given to the impact on the wider community.

"What we would like to see is that when those applications come forward that the councils feel confident enough to insist on new truck stock provision within the facility itself," he says.

"Or, if that can't be achieved, that money is given so the official truck stop provision can be provided elsewhere in the local area."

He also believes the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, has a role to play as she is going to become responsible for the Strategic Transport Network.

The BBC has approached the mayor's office for comment.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "Our new planning proposals are clear that distribution centres must be designed with local people in mind and limit the impact on the environment.

"They also set out that any development for these centres will need to provide enough parking for lorries, to stop them parking in unsuitable places."

The government is currently carrying out a consultation on a new National Planning Policy Framework which is open for responses until 10 March.

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