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Clamp down on non-payers
Page 14
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by Guy Sheppard Wheel-clamping teams are being sent into motorway service areas f MSAsI to deal with foreign drivers who refuse to pay the parking fees.
CP Plus, which manages more than 50 MSAs for Roadchef and Moto, says the problem is sometimes so bad that nearly all the spaces are taken up by non-payers.
Grahame Rose. head of development at CP Plus, says agencies cannot always track down the culprits in certain countries so now the Department for Transport (DfT I has been approached for help. "When it becomes a big problem, we will send down a wheel-clamp unit. Its not just sending one guy— it's not that easy."
He adds that the MSAs suffering most include Maidstone on the M20, Medway on the M2 and Clacket Lane on the M25.
Pat Nicholson, spokesman for the Professional Drivers' Association (PDA). says there are often so many trucks from eastern Europe at MSAs that it is impossible to find a parking space at night.
"I know they have not got a lot of money in this country but these are spaces that we just so desperately need. The problem Is getting really bad at the moment."
Mike Patten. site director at Clacket Lane. which has around 40 parking spaces for trucks, says: It is not a huge issue but it could get worse. From what I can gather, the drivers are trying to get a return load (to Europe). They try to stop indefinitely until they get one."
Patten is due to travel to the Continent with a PDA member over the next month to see how MSAs there compare with those in the UK. He says: "The PDA is saying we don't really cater for truckers as they do on the Continent. At least we will have an Indication of what life is like for them there."