We live on one of the UK’s WORST roads – bad parking makes our lives a misery

HORRIFIC parking is ruining the lives of hard-working business owners and forcing them to lose money.

Cars are often dumped and abandoned on Herbert Road, Birmingham – blocking the street and making deliveries impossible.

3

3

Milan Joshi, managing director of Maharani Food and Drinks LTD, revealed that lorry drivers carrying shipments from Belgium of up to £10k have become fed up of waiting and turned around numerous times.

Another businessman, Talib Khan, from IT Auto Centre, resorted to calling the police after cars clogged up the Small Heath road leading to his workplace.

Both men have had their gripes relayed from the council to the police and now to the DVLA (The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency), the government organisation responsible for maintaining an exhaustive database of drivers in the UK.

Both the police and council say they have carried out routine patrols in the area.

Mr Joshi said: “I’m so fed up. I’m the most affected person. It’s extreme stress.

“My lorries cannot get in or out of our premises.

“Our lorries are waiting one hour to get on to Herbert Road and they give up and go back to Belgium, and we lose £10,000.”

Mr Khan doubled down: “There’s damaged cars parked outside and also there’s triple parking. I have problems with my customers who are waiting 20 minutes to get on to the road and cannot.

“I have dialled 999 to get out of my premises because drivers are blocking the road and my customers have dialled 999 because they are blocked. Female customers and mature people will not come because It’s not worth the hassle.”

A spokesman from West Midlands Police said: “Dealing with issues that affect our communities and businesses is a priority for us. We understand that issues like this can affect businesses and people who visit or drive through the area and we know that this issue is a long-term problem.

“It’s important for local people who drive and park in this area to play their part by following the highway code and traffic regulations and by parking legally. However, we are in regular communication with our partner agencies and work with colleagues at the local authority to deal with this issue.

“Every month we carry out traffic enforcement operations and will remove vehicles or issue fines to motorists who are committing any parking or traffic violations. This is in addition to the regular patrols the team conduct in the area. We are in regular contact with our businesses and residents within the area.”

3