Santa feared lost in night ban campaign
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THE INDUSTRY'S fight to stop the threat of London-wide lorry bans was being stepped up in the week before Christmas, but there is a quiet optimism among industry spokesmen that it will escape any Draconian measures.
In a seasonal statement designed to draw attention to the effects that a night or weekend ban might have on London, the Freight Transport Association warned that "this could be the last year that London residents get a Christmas Eve visit from Santa Claus."
"With the quantity of parcels and sacks he has to deliver overnight, Santa will surely fall into any night ban on lorries which the GLC could impose next year," it added.
But the more serious message from the FTA is contained in a feature article it has written for the London newspapers, in which it highlights the measures five major retailers — Safeways, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, Boots and Sainsburys — would need to impose if a ban were to be introduced.
The GLC transport committee is expected to look closely at whether to go ahead with a ban proposal when it meets next month, or early in February, but it can expect little sympathy from the Government.
Transport Secretary Nicholas Ridley is known to feel that general bans are unacceptable, whereas local ones can be tolerated, and the need for lorry traffic to gain access to London at all times means that it is highly unlikely for such a scheme to be approved.