RM under fire for parking van in Tewkesbury loading bay

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Royal Mail under fire for parking van in Tewkesbury loading bay

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http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276334/Article/images/24185570/7888773-large.jpgRoyal Mail is under fire for constantly parking a van in a Tewkesbury High Street loading bay for long periods.

Pub landlord John Gilleland, of the Nottingham Arms in the street, claims it has often been parked for hours at a time for the past two years.

And what has infuriated him is that when he has complained to traffic wardens about the length of time the van has been left there, they have told him there is nothing they can do about it because Royal Mail is allowed to carry out the practice.

So Mr Gilleland, whose pub is directly opposite the loading bay used by the van, decided to raise the matter publicly.

He said: “If I parked there like that, I would have to pay a fine but they (Royal Mail) don’t care, they just park there.

“I’ve seen the traffic wardens book other people outside the town hall in the loading bay.”

He said traffic wardens told him Royal Mail could park there for much longer than most motorists because it was connected to the Crown.

But Mr Gilleland said he felt this should no longer apply because much of Royal Mail had been sold off by the Government in 2013.

He added: “Why don’t they park in Spring Gardens Car Park? What’s the necessity to take up a parking space in a loading bay all day? It bugs me.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said the company had been granted permission by Gloucestershire County Council to park its vehicles in the High Street.

He said: “Our vans park in this area due to the nature of our business and remain parked there only for as much time as deliveries take to complete.

“We view parking in these locations as being essential to our delivering an efficient, high quality service to the area. We conduct regular briefings with our delivery staff regarding safe operation of delivery vehicles.”

Parking enforcement in Tewkesbury is carried out by the company Apcoa on behalf of the council.

The council’s parking manager, Jim Daniels, said: “The law allows Royal Mail vehicles to park in this particular loading bay for the purpose of delivering and/or collecting mail.

“We understand that Royal Mail park there because it is within close reach of the many delivery and collection points they have around the town centre.”