EXTRANEWSM
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along the kerb of a busy road, over the entrance roundabout, through flower beds and to enter the site through the back of the car park. There is nothing to make them feel welcome. A management spokesman on the site confirmed that there are no showers at South Mimms, and no other special facilities for truck drivers.
One angry truck driver shouting at the security guard said he would be asking the Transport and General Workers Union to ban deliveries to the South Mimms site in return for his treatment at the site. GEC's Paul Bullock said no one could be expected to walk to the service area from the lorry park on a dark, rainy night. "It's a hopeless situation," he said, "and it is an insult to us. BP would not spend millions on a site like this without thinking of truck drivers, surely?"
The TGWU has already launched a campaign about the declining number of transport cafes in Britain, and the poor reception many truck drivers receive at motorway services throughout the country.
Freight Transport Association director general Garry Turvey says: "British lorry drivers get a poor deal compared with their colleagues in Europe."
The FTA was "appalled" to hear about South Mimms, and said the situation there only added weight to its argument that the lack of services on the M25 is making life for truck drivers a misery. The Road Haulage Association has also entered the fray, and it says truck drivers are being neglected by "chain establishments which cater for the motorist and not lorry drivers". All parties involved argue that lorry drivers should enjoy better, not worse facilities.
South Minims is still the only service area on the 2041un-long M25. During the hour we spent there, the site's security guard was turning lorries away about once every two minutes.
Our driver, Fmak Raybould, tried a sympathy ploy when we were being redirected at the entrance, saying: "It's a long