North West Cambridgeshire MP vows to tackle residents' road safety fears at car storage plan for East of England Showground

Residents’ safety fears at car transporters using residential streets to access the East of England Showground have been described as ‘ a serious issue’ by a local MP.

Now North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara has vowed to work with residents in the Ortons in order to find a solution to their worries that have been triggered by the opening of a car storage and distribution depot at the Showground.

A retrospective planning application for the temporary car storage depot has been submitted to Peterborough City Council by the Showground operator AEPG.

But until a decision is made by planners, the depot will continue to be used by logistics giant DHL which says four to eight transporters a day delivering at least 80 vehicles will arrive at the depot using Dunblane Drive as the entrance and exit.

Mr Vara said: “This is a serious issue and I have been contacted by constituents about it.

"I will be meeting them soon to discuss a way forward.”

His comments come after residents told how they endured a morning of chaos on April 19 with some people claiming five transporters were seen on the roads.

One resident posted a message on Orton South Residents Association Facebook site stating: “It was five transporters when I left for work, cars stuck between transporters on the main road into Orton Southgate and access completely blocked at peak staff arrival time.

"Transporter queued onto the main roundabout blocking traffic there too. Surely a significant road safety issue?”

Councillor Julie Stevenson, one of the area’s representative on the city council, said: “I’ve spoken to AEPG about the traffic chaos this morning.

"They have investigated and told me a well meaning employee of DHL thought it would help residents if they kept the gates locked until 8am – hence less traffic movement in the early morning.

She said: “While this decision may have been taken with good intentions, the results were not good and I’ve been assured it will not happen again.”

An AEPG spokesperson said: “We investigated this with DHL. It seems a member of the team had the best intentions from the residents’ perspective, but it has had a worse impact.”.