Published: 6 February, 2014
By RICHARD OSLEY

SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has been accused of treating Camden with contempt after racking up a £13,000 parking ticket bill on the same spot of a congested road. 

With complaints about clogged-up roads in West Hampstead unsoothed, new figures relased by the council this week have revealed that the company’s delivery lorries were billed 231 times outside its shop in West End Lane last year. 

That amounts to an average of four tickets a week – and at a common rate of £60 a time – an annual bill of more than £13,000. 

The council says it cannot add extra fines and penalties for repeat offenders, leaving sceptics suspecting that Tesco would rather factor in the risk of getting tickets against its need to regularly replenish the store. 

It is often argued that no individual driver would be capable of withstanding such an onslaught or parking penalties. In the past, the idea that shops needing constant deliveries simply added two-digit parking fines to their costs has been dubbed the “park where you like” strategy. 

Tesco insisted yesterday (Wednesday) it took the issue of deliveries seriously and was working with the council. 

The new figures were released after an inquiry by Lib Dem councillor Gillian Risso-Gill, who said it was time for the council to get tough. “We’ve been raising this for two years – it is the issue that comes up again and again,” she said. “We don’t feel the council has done enough and Tesco won’t admit that their shop is too big for that site, with a constant stream of deliveries. When they are asked about doing their deliveries overnight, we are told residents said they did not want that – but I’m not so sure. It’s a constant problem.” 

Tesco’s shop is positioned on a narrow stretch of West End Lane, the area’s crucial artery, adding to traffic problems if a lorry blocks the road. 

Jonathan Turton, creator and editor of West Hampstead Life blog and Twitter feed, said: “People are always asking about this. I understand Camden can’t raise fines unilaterally, but is there no way of prosecuting repeat offenders?” 

Labour environment chief Councillor Phil Jones said: “It is outrageous that a company as huge as Tesco can openly contravene parking regulations in this manner. They are not only treating Camden Council with contempt, but also local residents and it is quite frankly unacceptable. Camden is pressing the government to give the council the ability to levy higher fines on companies which breach the rules of the road in this way. 

He added: “We need the power to issue PCNs large enough to make firms like Tesco reconsider their behaviour in places like West End Lane.” 

Mayor of London Boris Johnson was asked about the problem when he visited West Hampstead at the end of last year, but instead of answering the question directly, he began talking about how he thought roads would become increasingly clogged up as vans delivering internet shopping made regular trips to people’s homes. 

A Tesco spokesman said: “We always try to make sure our deliveries cause as little disruption as possible to our customers and the community. We have been working on this issue with Camden Council and are committed to finding a solution as quickly as possible.”