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HGV drivers fear lack of secure parking

Kayleigh BarkerSouth of England
Owaki/Kulla via Getty A white lorry is parked up for the night at a truck stop under a street lamp. In the background you can see two other HGV's and around them is tree's and grass.Owaki/Kulla via Getty
HGV drivers want to see more secure truck stops across Oxfordshire

"There's no dedicated secure truck parking" for HGV drivers in Oxfordshire, a group representing the haulage industry has said.

Ashton Cull from The Road Haulage Association (RHA) said the lack of secure parking is putting drivers in danger: "We've seen increasingly prevalent HGV crime particularly where HGV's are having to park where there's no security measures."

Lorry driver Gareth Lewis, from Hook Norton said drivers, their loads and fuel are being put at risk: "They break the fuel cap off and take 10-15 litres of fuel at a time."

The Department for Transport said: "We're investing up to £35.7m across England, including Oxfordshire, to help provide drivers with safer places to rest."

Lewis said all lorry drivers should be able to rest somewhere safe: "We are legally required to take a break, and it's supposed to be a minimum of 11 hours overnight and there's nothing [secure parking] in Oxfordshire, so your alternative is you park in a layby.

"So, you've got the noise of the traffic whilst you're trying to rest and you're keeping an ear out for somebody coming along at night where curtains could get slashed and diesel stolen which right now is a big target with the war [in Iran]."

A man looks at the camera. He wears a navy jacket and blue shirt. He has dark mid length hair and blue eyes.
Ashton Cull from the Road Haulage Association says it is calling on the government to provide 11,000 more secure truck stops to ensure all lorry drivers have a safe place to rest

Cull said: "It's a terrible issue for all drivers who are delivering goods into Oxfordshire…criminals scour the entire national road network looking for vehicles to target."

The RHA are calling on the government to provide 11,000 more secure truck stops to ensure all lorry drivers have a safe place to rest but Cull said there's barriers to this: "Applications when they're brought forward take a long time to get processed but also rejection rates are so high because people say 'they don't want it here, it needs to go somewhere else'.

"We need changes in planning law to recognise HGV parking as an essential part of our national transport infrastructure and local's areas need to be more willing to accept this need is there."

The Department for Transport said: "It is vital that lorry drivers have access to safe and secure roadside facilities.

"That's why we're investing up to £35.7m across England, including Oxfordshire, to help provide drivers with safer places to rest and support the movement of goods across the country."

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