A trader was shocked to be fined twice for using new red route loading bays, even though he stayed no longer than 20 minutes. Clark Maides of M and B Meats believes he has been penalised because he left the van unattended for up to six minutes between loads in the London Road loading bay in Brighton . He said as the loading bay is 46 metres away from the shop it can take some minutes to unload trolleys and return.
Mr Maides said when the red routes came into force in April, he was told he had up to 20 minutes to load and unload his vehicle and he has never exceeded this time. He did not expect the camera operators monitoring the loading bays to be timing the gaps between visits to the vehicle. He said: “I wasn’t ever made aware that we had to be consistently loading every second.
“Our shop isn’t near a loading bay so it takes time to get to and from.” What frustrates Mr Maides is the company van is in the loading bay every morning six days a week for loading deliveries and the operators should recognise it by now. Brighton and Hove City Council said the fines were issued on Thursday, July 18, and Saturday, July 20, the first at 9.
20am and second at 9.36am, as the van was in the loading bay for too long. A council spokesman said the traffic regulation order for the red routes does not limit the length of time someone can park while loading or unloading as long as they are actively doing so.
Mr Maides, who runs the business with his father Graham, raised concerns abou.