Taxi drivers' anger over Stonehenge parkingTAXI drivers say they are being made to feel unwelcome at Stonehenge due to a lack of parking facilities.
“There are no taxi spaces up there,” said taxi driver John Sheard. “We take quite a lot of people from the railway station and there are no facilities for us to park any more.
“Years ago there were four spaces for taxis but they have taken them all away and they are now disabled bays which are rarely used.
“Buses get their own designated place but we have got nowhere.”
Passengers can be dropped off at the entrance, but if taxi drivers are waiting to do the return journey, they have to park elsewhere.
“You don’t know how long they are going to be, it could be ten minutes or it could be an hour,” added Mr Sheard.
“If we park up somewhere and we’re told to move, people don’t know where we are.” When the car park is full, taxi drivers are required to park in the overflow car park, which is in a nearby field.
“They put us in a muddy field and we’re trying to keep our taxis clean,” said Mr Sheard. And sometimes lost passengers get onto buses instead, meaning taxi drivers are left out of pocket.
A spokesman for English Heritage said: “The car and coach parking facilities are currently very limited at Stonehenge but we try our best to provide suitable parking for everyone visiting the monument.
“On peak days when the volume of visitors are high, it is necessary for short periods of time to extend the car parking beyond the available hard standing area and extend into a neighbouring overflow space.
“English Heritage recognises the importance of working alongside local businesses, and welcomes taxi drivers to Stonehenge.
"We hope to address the inadequacies of the current situation when the new visitor centre opens. There will be more space for parking and an area has been assigned for taxi parking close to the building entrance.”
http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/ ... e_parking/
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