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A shop owner believes it’s only a matter of time before someone is knocked down by a Royal Mail van that parks inches away from a her business every day.
Shona Rattray, who is also a local councillor, owns a shop in Sibson Road. Birstall, where there are there are a row of parking spaces along the side of the road and a series of intermittent barriers on the pavement. And she fears people will simply not expect a vehicle to pull up onto the pavement on the wrong side of the barrier.
However she says that a Royal Mail van is doing that virtually ever day and stopping “inches away” from her shopfront, and it leaves little space for people to walk past. And even more worryingly, Shona says the van cannot be seen on approach from inside her shop.
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She told LeicestershireLive: “Someone could step out of the shop and not know if a car or van was coming. There have been times when customers are surprised when the van pulls up so close to the shop.
“I have customers with young children and buggies and I believe it’s only a matter of time before someone is hurt. I can’t understand how it is necessary when there are parking bays on the roadside.”
(Image: Tristan Potter/Leicester Mercury)
Shona complained to Royal Mail in April this year and was told the issue would be looked into but that she would not hear back about an outcome. Upon contacting them again, Shona said she was told the complaint had been considered resolved by Royal Mail. But the van continues to use the pavement.
“The area is for pedestrians and they don’t expect to walk out into the path of a van,” Shona said. After seemingly no changes since she complained, Shona took to Twitter to share her concerns.
She wrote: “This is what I put up with from @RoyalMail every night. The area outside is approx a 3m wide pedestrian area with a barrier at the roadside. This van squeezes through every day within approx 30cm of the front door. One day someone is going to step into the path of this van and get hurt.”
“Please deal with this before someone gets hurt,” she added.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We regularly remind our colleagues of the importance of parking vehicles safely and considerately, and are sorry to hear this complaint from Shona Rattray. We will be contacting Ms Rattray to discuss her complaint further.”
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