RESIDENTS living near Morrisons in Oswestry say their lives are being made a misery by the store’s staff who park on surrounding streets, and say reassurances that the firm is working to resolve the situation provide little comfort.
Gittin Street resident Mark Jones says he and his neighbours have been suffering difficulties caused by inconsiderate parking for almost two years and have been unable to get the problem resolved: “Since Morrisons have opened a couple of years ago the car parking situation on and around Gittin Street has gotten worse significantly,” he said.
“As residents of Gittin Street Oswestry we are sick of the constant lack of consideration from Morrisons. We have written to their head office as well as spoken to the manager of the store yet still there has been no improvement in the parking considerations of their staff.
“Bearing in mind there is ample parking around the store why do the staff see fit to have to park on our residential street,” she added.
Gittin Street residents argue that it is also not simply a matter of the store’s staff taking up available parking space, and have reported more significant problems: “There have been numerous accounts of staff parking in clearly marked disabled bays all day,” said Mr Jones, “There have been instances of driveways being blocked and also an incident where one vehicle was so close to the junction that a resident had to take evasive action to avoid the car and hit another. Is this fair?
“We have contacted them at the supermarket but our words have fallen on death ears,” he added.
Morrisons say they are keen to resolve the situation, but that ownership issues over the surrounding car parks mean they have been unable to provide staff spaces on the car park.
Store General Manager, Frank Cromie said: “The car park at our Oswestry store is council owned and we are working with them to try and find a resolution. We thank local residents for their patience so far.”