Commercial vehicle parked on residential road - any remedy?

[PuzzledObserver]

I live on a new build estate. We are the first house on our side and the area opposite is currently undeveloped (was used as builders’ compound and car park) so is there is a decent length of kerb that side from the corner to the first dropped kerb - say 50m long.

In the time we’ve been here, there have occasionally been commercial vehicles parked up - often low loaders with diggers or JCB’s on them. They were sometimes there overnight. We had always assumed it was something to do with the builders, moving plant around as needed.

But recently, there has been a low loader parked up with cars on it. Over the weekend, it was two beaten up Rolls Royces which were there from Friday to yesterday morning. Then later yesterday, a low loader with a car on the back parked up, and is still there. I haven’t been paying attention to the reg number, but have now taken a note of it, to see if it is the same vehicle.

If it is the same vehicle - then it is someone running a business, but instead of parking their vehicle in their own compound or a proper lorry park, they are leaving it on a residential street. Like many new estates, the roads are not that wide - it does cause inconvenience to people driving on and off the estate.

Is there anything that can be done? Or is it a case of anyone can park on the public highway, and we’ll just have to live with it?

Just to add - I’ve looked the vehicle up (it is taxed and insured) and it gives the revenue weight as 12,000kg. I’ve also found something which says that vehicles over 7.5 tons are not allowed to park on residential streets - and I think 12,000kg is above 7.5 tons, so maybe that’s a way forward.

Where I used to live there was a length of road between our drive and the T junction at the end of the road which began to be used for lorries to park up. It made it very dangerous for us to get out of our drive into invisible oncoming traffic that had just turned into our road. When it had obviously become a habit I looked up the company website and sent letters with photographs, diagrams and quotes from their site if relevant, and it always worked. It seemed that the existence of this possible site was passed around as there was a succession of companies, but eventally the supply dried up. We had a shipping company, and a crane - that one emphasised how that took care not to affect the location where they did their lifting badly, and I was able to point out that the driver here was not following company policy.

@PuzzledObserver I would contact your Highway Authority. Usually your county council or equivalent. See your local councillor. Ask for parking restrictions to be introduced. It sounds like the vehicle owner lives nearby to me. However the highway authority should know what the restrictions are and how they can be reinforced. Restrictive paved “gates” for example. However if the estate is still being built, builders and deliveries will need access.

Do you mean you contacted the companies which owned each vehicle - that they were different ones?

I have wondered whether there was some sort of drivers’ word of mouth thing going on.

The vehicle that’s there at the moment has no branding on it. Obviously the police could trace the owner, but there’s no mileage in that unless what they’re doing is unlawful.

Construction is finished, they are just finishing off the pavements, and then it will be the road surface, and they’re done.

Assuming they are still trying to sell the houses, I suspect the builder will have the argument for you - they won't want that affecting sales. The company that built my new build was very anal about ensuring all rules were complied with until then sold

@PuzzledObserver The Highway Authority will need to adopt the road for maintenance purposes. You need to find out if this has been done or is imminent. You also might ask them about design principles for the road to restrict traffic size and parking restrictions too. They HA will have approved the road designs submitted for the estate. You might also find this via the planning department. Usually residential estates don’t allow parking of hgvs.

All houses sold and occupied

The road won’t be adopted yet so there won’t be anything highways can do until it is (if it is every being adopted!) You’d have to ask the developer to do something and they are the landowner.

Thank you - so it sounds like the Highway Authority is the sensible route.

Will they not get involved until the road has been adopted, though? I suspect the adoption will not take place until the final surfacing has been done and goodness knows when that will be - they have scores of grids and inspection hatches to raise before that can happen.

*ever

@PuzzledObserver You might be able to get timing out of the Highway Authority as all houses are occupied. Certainly tell
them about the parking issue. The HA will expect certain standards to be met but developers do usually comply and move on. It’s in their interests to do so.

@PuzzledObserver This is what my HA says on their website. They will already know about this road. The developers must build it to adoptable standards as agreed in advance.

May be worth looking at whether they need a goods vehicle operators licence. There are some exemptions for example recovery vehicles (only if they’re used exclusively for that purpose)
Good vehicle operating centres

I did indeed contact the companies, and I did suspect a word of mouth between drivers. Or the same driver changing jobs. I had ruled out a local chap parking up near his home, but I can't remember how.

It it is the same lorry regularly the address should be registered as an operating by centre for the operator.
Keeping a lorry regularly overnight not at your operating centre can be in breach of the owners operators licence.
Office of the Traffic Commissioner is the place to start investigating this.

Thanks all for the input. At time of writing it has been there 48 hours. I’m going to start by keeping a record of arrival/departure and see if it is indeed the same lorry - that will inform next steps.

I can’t follow @Treaclemine ’s technique with this one as it is unmarked - or rather, there appear to be old markings painted over. When I looked up it’s MOT history, it had a fantastically high mileage, makes me wonder if there’s something a bit dodgy going on.

If you suspect dodgy, be careful. Before the lorries, we had a succession of abandoned cars, and a neighbour arriving in her car at the same time objected and was threatened with an iron bar.

Yeah, I wasn’t going to do anything involving direct contact.

Quick update: on Friday I found a web form which enabled me to report to the local council, so we’ll see what they come back with - not before Monday, obviously. Then at 9.30pm last night (Saturday), someone came and drive it away.

So now we wait and see whether the same vehicle comes back… or a different one…. or none. My money’s on the same one.