With the nation under lockdown there have been a huge increase in the demand for online shopping and home deliveries.

1000s of people have lost jobs, have lost out on earnings and are struggling to survive and support themselves and their families.

100s of businesses have lost out and have been forced to close, losing incredible amounts of money and many have gone bust or are on the verge of going bust. Their only hope is getting orders online and delivering direct to the doorsteps of the customers.

To do this, companies like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Stuart, Just Eat, Myhermes, Amazon, Yodel and many more courier companies are supporting these business in an efficient and cost effective model that will enable the running and upkeep of many businesses without them going bust.

These courier companies also provide a bloodline to thousands of people by providing jobs to them and enable them to survive in these difficult times.

These courier drivers are the frontline workers who are working day and night for their survival and for the survival of 1000s of businesses who are on the verge of going bust.

Without these courier drivers, 1000s of businesses including the majority of restaurants will go bust. These drivers are key to the survival of these businesses and  are ESSENTIAL to delivering hot meals, groceries and essential goods straight to their door in a contact free safe manner.

In these hard times it feels like Kingston Council is fighting against these hard workers by allowing their Civil Enforcement Officers to just dash out PCNs to these courier drivers.

These courier drivers use cars, mopeds and bicycles to deliver anything from Amazon parcels to a meal from McDonalds to their groceries from Aldi.

The struggle to park their vehicle somewhere in Kingston to load their vehicle and where they will not be ticketed is extremely hard.

Yellow lines in Kingston are mostly sign posted no loading 7am to midnight.
Loading bays are restricted to goods vehicle only throughout the Kingston town area.
Disabled bays are spread around Kingston but using them for loading also comes with a PCN and abuse from members of the public for drivers using a Disabled bay to load.
Normal parking bays are scarce around Kingston and those of which do exist are really distant from these businesses. Using these to load also comes with a PCN.

Having personally received PCNs myself and having spoken to many others who are also receiving PCNs, I think it is essential for Kingston Council to provide clarity in how courier drivers who use cars and mopeds can safely use their vehicles for loading around the town without getting a PCN.

The last thing any worker wants to have, especially in these hard times is to be charged for doing an essential job and to have a distressing argument with a CEO about parking. It is good for neither the CEO or the drivers. Working hard during Covid whilst putting yourself at risk, to make a living, all to just go to waste as a Civil Enforcement Officer comes and slaps a PCN on your vehicle as you are:

Not allowed to load in a Goods Vehicle Loading bay

Not allowed to load in a Disabled Bay

Not allowed to load on yellow lines as there is an all day loading restriction

Not allowed in a parking bay because the CEO says you are parked there and not loading

And then when you are allowed to load on a yellow line when there is no restriction, a CEO comes and slaps a fine because you are PARKED there and not Loading and Police Officers come and tell you to move because you are in the way of the road flow and blocking traffic. Whilst there would be a Goods Vehicle Loading Bay or Disabled Bay next to it, where you could use for loading, you just are not allowed to.

Please would Kingston Council be grateful enough go stop this war against drivers and give them adequate protection whilst delivering by:

Allowing these drivers to use the many Goods Vehicle Loading Only bays which are at the doorsteps of the 100s of restaurants that are up and running around Kingston and are struggling for their survival. There is no point in a business receiving goods when they can not deliver it. A delivery by a courier driver supports 1000s of jobs down the chain from farm to fork. It feeds and supports thousands of people who are staying at home. The drivers are only stopped at the bays for a mere 5 minutes or so to pickup or drop off their orders.

Add more loading bays (where practical and possible and which allows for courier drivers in cars to stop) around restaurant hotspots in the Town Area to support these restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and many others which use the courier services.

Instruct Civil Enforcement Officers to be more lenient with courier drivers who use cars and mopeds. Some sort of strategy could be outlined by the council to aid with showing that a delivery is taking place e.g. a note in the car window, hazard lights on, or some other format which is reasonable. This will reduce less friction between CEOs and drivers and will help reduce PCNs being dashed out to people unnecessarily, they are there to do a job only.

Would London Councils, TfL, Boris Johnson and all other local MPs help in supporting these essential drivers.

Support these Businesses, Support these workers and the many other jobs they help to support down the line and Support to keep London and the Country running Safely and Happily in these times.

Give these unprotected ESSENTIAL Self Employed workers who are working day and night to keep businesses afloat, the need for adequate protection against unfair treatment of Penalty Charge Notices by giving them better rights to use the roads to conduct the essential deliveries they make.