lorry drivers looking for a free place to stay overnight have been making life a misery for residents of a street in Ross, using their gardens as urinals and even defecating in the gutter.

Lorries are supposed to park in allocated parking areas – there is a large site at Whitchurch and one at Overross. These sites have facilities, including toilets and showers blocks, but they make a charge. Drivers looking to save the payments often park up in laybys. There has been a police crackdown on this because lone lorries have been targeted by thieves, who have stolen diesel and the goods on board, often causing damage in the process. This has had the effect of increasing the number of drivers looking for safer parking places and they have frequently been parking in Alton Street in Ross.

The whole of Ross is a 30mph zone, which means that it is illegal for lorries over 7.5 tonnes to park there overnight. Residents explained their worries to Councillor Andrew Atkinson and Councillor Phil Cutter, who arranged a meeting with Andrew Lee-Jones of Amey and Robert Haynes, Traffic Management Advisor from West Mercia Police.

They all agreed that the drivers should not be parking in the street. One resident, who did not wish to be named, told the Ross Gazette: "We have lived here since this road was just a lane. We expect lorries making deliveries to the industrial estates but we don't think we should have to put up with it at night." At the end of the discussion, Councillors Cutter and Atkinson said they hoped to raise the matter with the Town Council and Mr Hayes said he would discuss the issue with Inspector Gebbie and see if enforcement could be increased.

Pressures on the police, especially at night, might be a problem and hinder enforcement, so increased signage was suggested, however this raised other issues. The main result of the meeting was to increase the publicity to hauliers associations that residents, the Town Council and the police were looking at taking firm action against culprits and would actively encourage drivers, through publicity, to use the allocated parking areas.

Councillor Cutter said: "We need to get the message out there that lorry drivers should only be parking where it is legal to do so."