'Trying to catch us out’ Angry delivery driver complains of ‘overzealous’ parking wardens
A DELIVERY driver has spoken out on being unfairly targeted by parking wardens on a busy street.
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Les Hammond, who works doing home deliveries for Iceland, claimed there are no realistic alternatives to stopping his van and that officious wardens are now targeting drivers like him. He said they’d received six or seven fines in just the past three months.
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The Lincolnshire-based driver said: "We've had vans outside the shop for perhaps 30 years on the loading bay.
“Most of the time we can fit the vans onto the correct side of the yellow line, but sometimes there'll be too many boxes there and we can't get the van over far enough, so maybe a wheel is sticking out.
"Obviously when we're loading and unloading that's fine, and I suppose that if a wheel is sticking out then by rights, we could be done.
“But it feels like it's a bit overboard.”
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Mr Hammond told Lincolnshire Live that it was the company that handled the tickets, not the individual drivers.
But he said: "It's not a financial issue, it can just be disruptive”
And although the cost of the fines is absorbed by Iceland Head Office he feels smaller businesses in the area won’t be able to.
He added: "Parking enforcement should be sensible and appropriate.
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"This is a little market town in Lincolnshire - it's not central London, where things have to be gung-ho.
“I can understand taking that approach there but I don't think we need that sort of style in Sleaford."
Mr Hammond added that some drivers felt the wardens were targeting the 'wrong' users of the street.
He said: "If they did come back in the late afternoon and early evening, you'd manage to get a lot of people who park there to go to the shops or fish and chip shop.
"They'll park all over the double-yellow lines and in our loading bay - if they sorted that out, it'd be great."
Another concern for the driver was that there was no alternative place to park.
He added: "We don't have much room to park and we can't just go park in the private Jermyn Street car park.
"We don't try to block up the road but when there are cages in the way, it really can be tight."
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A spokesperson for Lincolnshire County Council's highways division defended the role of the parking enforcement officers and said vehicles will always be observed prior to a ticket being issued.
He said: "In essence, anyone can park on a single or double yellow line whilst actively in the process of loading or unloading, provided the vehicle is not causing an obstruction and they are actively seen to be carrying the process out.
“We always observe vehicles for, at the very least, five minutes before taking any type of enforcement action.
"This is council policy and is deemed to be more than sufficient for some to load or unload an item to the door of the premises they are visiting."
He added that drivers are permitted to remain parked for the duration of the process if it takes longer than those five minutes.
He explained: "We would advise anybody who believes they hold sufficient grounds justifying cancellation of the penalty charge notice (PCN) to challenge the issue as per the info on the reverse of the PCN itself.”
