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Free M6 parking offer
Page 10
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PROPERTY DEVELOPER Swayfields is offering free overnight parking for more than 100 HGVs at its proposed motorway service area near Rugby.
The MSA would be built at Junction 1 of the M6 in an area said to be a blackspot for truck crime because secure parking is in such short supply.
Swaytields already operates several service areas under the Extra brand but this would be the first time it has offered free HGV parking on motorways.
Director Keith Dolby explains: "Our background research has shown that a severe need for HGV parking space exists in the area. Quite a lot of drivers were finding it necessary to park in laybys overnight."
He adds that the free parking offer was made during negotiations over planning permission.
Pat Nicholson, spokeswoman for the Professional Drivers Association, confirms that there were a spate of truck hijackings and thefts in the area last Christmas.
She believes that free parking would make a big difference to the problem because many employers refuse to reimburse drivers for using officially recognised sites, forcing them onto laybys and industrial estates.
Steve Parkes, senior planning officer for Rugby council, says a decision over planning permission is unlikely to be made this year even though the project was originally proposed as far back as 1999.