North Yorkshire Police, City of York Council and the York Retail Forum have joined forces to warn delivery drivers of the dangers that can be caused from driving and parking inappropriately in York’s city centre.

The new campaign follows a call for action from retailers and businesses after two incidents took place within a matter of weeks of each other, which saw historic buildings damaged by large delivery wagons, partly due to obstruction on the footstreets by other vehicles.

Yesterday the “Make it York” organisation – which is now responsible for “managing” the city centre  – was criticised for proposing further restrictions on delivery times in Davygate which could make congestion worse.  Parking arrangements in Kings Square had also been criticised.

Backed by the Retail Forum and Make It York, the new campaign issues a warning to delivery drivers to be careful and considerate of pedestrians, businesses and other vehicles.

If not, they could be fined.

North Yorkshire Police and the council already work side-by-side to monitor and take action against those who flout the law, but are stepping up enforcement action to increase safety in the city centre in the busy lead up to Christmas.

From December, drivers which are caught breaking the rules will be given a warning style ‘ticket’ [artwork attached] which will act as an advance warning. Should drivers re-offend they could be given a real Penalty Charge Notice by North Yorkshire Police or the council.

The campaign asks retailers and businesses to sign up to five key aims:

1. Support this initiative and feedback views and ideas to Make It York.
2. Communicate to their delivery providers about this initiative
3. Consider the size of vehicle servicing their business and consider future ways of limiting vehicles to less than 7.5 tonnes.
4. Ensuring vehicles do not block or damage pavements or roads and move on immediately after loading and unloading is complete.
5. Review the timings of deliveries to enhance the customer experience especially in the late afternoon and early evening period to encourage people to stay in the city longer.

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