I pulled into Lancaster services (MSA) southbound M6 on monday pm
I only stopped for the usual things ( ■■■■, stretch, ogle women, replenish sugar jar, etc) but found that half the parking area was coned off.
in total there was 11 official spaces for trucks, 2 of which could not be accessed from the slip road due to high kerb blocking the way.
This had forced trucks to park in long load layby and around the pumps.
The coned off area was reserved for coaches a total of 15 spaces!
In the hour i was parked (in the layby next to the fuel pumps) i lost count of the number of trucks that came in and then drove out being unable to find a parking space.
In the same hour not 1 coach entered the services.
Now i’m not against coaches ( I have a mate that runs a bus and coach company) but surely they should provide more than 11 spaces on a MSA on one of the busiest motorways in the country.
had a brief look today and lorries were parked in coach bays. we could do with loads of drivers just filling the site ,parking anywhere and saying they cant move cos of rest break and it would be illegal to do so.
also knutsford has that sign with a truck with a red band thru ,is that trying to say they are banned ,if so isnt that illegal under the motorway service franchise rules or something.
You could be right Getz they still have lorry spaces but they are probably trying to get you to use Lymm truckstop so that you will tempted to get ripped off on a grander scale.
IIRC moto advertised themselves as the truckers freind when they first took over from ■■? (sorry cant remember who it was Granada maybe??)
They said they were putting in new drivers lounges and internet access with coffee machines etc
I wonder what happened to all that
ive a question, the motorway signs telling you that the next services are 1 mile away. these are effectivly advertisment for the msa’s, now are these paid for by the msa’s or are they put up by the HA, using taxpayers money?.
wirralpete:
ive a question, the motorway signs telling you that the next services are 1 mile away. these are effectivly advertisment for the msa’s, now are these paid for by the msa’s or are they put up by the HA, using taxpayers money?.
They are supplied and paid for by the HA (us the taxpayer). To be elegible for ‘signage’ the MSA has to satisfy certain criteria. This criteria is mostly over looked by the HA, the HATO’s and the police, infact it is blatantly ignored for the most part, they let them do what they like. The police and HA (HATO’s) are all selective in what they see a safety or the regs, they chase ordinary motorists and let the MSA’s off scot free !! Fact !
wirralpete:
ive a question, the motorway signs telling you that the next services are 1 mile away. these are effectivly advertisment for the msa’s, now are these paid for by the msa’s or are they put up by the HA, using taxpayers money?.
They are supplied and paid for by the HA (us the taxpayer). To be elegible for ‘signage’ the MSA has to satisfy certain criteria. This criteria is mostly over looked by the HA, the HATO’s and the police, infact it is blatantly ignored for the most part, they let them do what they like. The police and HA (HATO’s) are all selective in what they see a safety or the regs, they chase ordinary motorists and let the MSA’s off scot free !! Fact !
What can the police do about motorway services, never mind HATO’s
wirralpete:
ive a question, the motorway signs telling you that the next services are 1 mile away. these are effectivly advertisment for the msa’s, now are these paid for by the msa’s or are they put up by the HA, using taxpayers money?.
They are supplied and paid for by the HA (us the taxpayer). To be elegible for ‘signage’ the MSA has to satisfy certain criteria. This criteria is mostly over looked by the HA, the HATO’s and the police, infact it is blatantly ignored for the most part, they let them do what they like. The police and HA (HATO’s) are all selective in what they see a safety or the regs, they chase ordinary motorists and let the MSA’s off scot free !! Fact !
What can the police do about motorway services, never mind HATO’s
Good question ! Well if you park on the hard shoulder of an MSA slip due to there being no room you will have the Police or HATO’s come move you or issue you a ticket on saftey grounds. Fair enough you might reasonably say.
However when MSA’s like Knutsford (one of many) breach the regs of allowing traffic to use the services as an exit/entrance to the motorway thereby creating extra unecessary traffic at the services and blockages on the slip road and lane one of the motorway you might think the HATO’s or Police might look into this? No, they ignore it. Infact at Knutsford services everyone drives past the police station to exit /enter the motorway. How do they ignore this? Moreso when you consider hardly a month goes by when there isn’t a yellow sign on the hard shoulder near the Knutsford MSA saying…‘accident here on 0/00/00 we are appealing for witnesses’ . So, do the HA take a tougher stand against MSA operators than the Police or HATO’s do?
Following your letter I wrote to the operator of the site advising that we have received a complaint from the public about the use of the access. I pointed out that I had received a similar report late last year and had written and asked them to advise me on the situation. I have as yet received no response to either letter. I will attempt to contact the operator again, and failure to address the issue may well mean I will have to escalate the matter further. In the meantime I am trying to get a copy of the original planning permission for the site. I have been speaking to Macclesfield Borough Council to see if the original planning consent can be found. As this goes back to the early 60’s they are having difficulty in locating it and it may no longer be possible to refer to. However, these often contain conditions similar to our leases about the use of the rear access. If so, it is not solely an issue for the HA as you have been advised, but also for the planning authority.
It is an unfortunate aspect of the leases on these sites, some of which date back 25 years, that the only recourse they offer to the Highways Agency where terms are breached is the forfeit of the site. This I am sure you can understand is a very serious action to pursue and therefore the Highways Agency will always seek to resolve issues through negotiation. It is sometimes the case that while the MSA operator wants to close the access, gates or barriers are vandalised by members of the public who wish to take these illegal shortcuts. It can therefore take sometime to find a satisfactory resolution. This is because motorists need to have advanced warning of the closure (for safety reasons), which also requires co-operation of the police, to man the barrier for the fist few days also if possible to ensure there is no disorder, a suitable barrier must be identified and bought (effective and strong barriers are expensive), and time must be booked to install. In a similar case at a different MSA that I was negotiating with last October, it will be April before a suitable barrier will be re-instated.
In the case of Knutsford, I have written a third letter today, and as is convention, will allow the operator 3 weeks to respond to me. If necessary, I will then seek to take the matter further.
On your advice in you previous email to me I have also passed on your concerns re the Frankley MSA to my colleague responsible for the Midlands area.
I will keep you informed of any developments.
Lets hope me and you get this sort of leeway when we park in the wrong area or make some other misdemeanour hey? That was sent to me in March. Nothings happened since. Cheshire Police advertise on their website that they work closely with the HA, but obviously not close enough to sort out a blatant flouting of the legislation. The HA at first refered me to Atkins Global, thats how interested they are. They just pass anything they don’t understand (like MSA regs that they are responsible for) to subcontractors.
a total of 15 spaces!
