Minicab drivers appeal to ASDA over parking
A minicab driver has appealed to a supermarket to crack down on irresponsible parking.
Edward Beard, who runs Maurice’s Private Hire with his brother John, says customers at ASDA in Biggleswade regularly park in the store’s taxi bay.
The brothers and other "taxi" drivers in the town have complained to security staff at the supermarket who are happy to move offending drivers on.
But after customers continued to park in the bay the two wrote to a store manager and spoke to him in person.
But Edward, 60, claims nothing has been done.
He said: “We wrote to the manager but we have not received a reply.
“Then one day when there were regular cars in the bay I went in to see a manager and he did not seem very interested at all. He said the area was marked out for taxis but if customers were parking there then there was nothing he could do.”
Edward, who has been a "taxi" driver for 30 years, says that the issue has caused problems for him and his customers too.
He said: “Many of them are elderly or disabled so they need to be dropped off and collected at the entrance to the store – there isn’t anywhere else for us to park.
“Everyone knows that parking at ASDA is an issue in the town and has caused its fair share of problems over time. We have to have somewhere to wait.”
An ASDA spokesman said: “The pick -up point at the front of the store is for both customers and "taxi" drivers, and we would remind people not to use this space for parking.”
The spokesman added that the pick-up point is available for people to use when they are staying for a short time to collect a member of staff who may be finishing work or a customer who has been shopping at the store.
http://www.biggleswadetoday.co.uk/news/ ... -1-5845122
......