Truckers still can’t find lorry park

Frustrated residents say they are “at breaking point” as confused truckers are still struggling to find Ashford’s Brexit lorry park.

Angry residents in Sevington say they have been inundated by HGVs trying to find the 66-acre facility off the new A2070 link road.

The huge ‘Inland Border Facility’ next to Junction 10a of the M20 has been used for Covid-19 testing since January, but residents in the area have reported problems with drivers getting lost and causing chaos.

One Sevington resident said: “At least three or four of these massive lorries have now tried to get into Nightingale Close because they have been given the wrong postcode.

“One even jack-knifed on the bend trying to turn around. They are all looking for the Covid test centre but there’s no way through the village.

“People are getting fed up with the destruction of their gardens.”

The situation is identical to one suffered by residents in nearby Mersham, who were swamped with lorries last month after the government gave out an incorrect postcode for the lorry park. Sevington resident Elizabeth Baird said: “This is the second time in two weeks that I have had a lorry driver who is following sat-nav directions given by our government come into our village which is a dead-end with narrow roads, lots of parked cars and a play park which feeds onto the road.

“By the time they get to the corner of Church Road and Kingfisher Close they can’t reverse and have to turn the tight corner looking for somewhere to turn around.

“As the corner is tight they end up on the pavement and ultimately on my front garden; on this occasion they missed my car which was parked on my drive by inches.”

And many in the community are worried about the future, with the lorry park not fully open yet, and development starting on a massive warehouse linked with distribution giant Amazon just down the road on Waterbrook Park.

Construction work on the GSE Group-led project is anticipated to begin in April, with completion expected in February 2022.

Although bosses are yet to reveal the name of the operator, Amazon has been rumoured and has long been linked with Ashford after a leaked ABC document in 2014 seemed to confirm it was coming to the town.

Mrs Baird said: “Our small quiet community is at breaking point with two new HGV facilities and now an Amazon warehouse being housed close by.”

One of the many lost lorry drivers who have ended up in Sevington; residents now fear the community is “at breaking point”

A lorry attempts to turn into Mersham on Monday as drivers continue to struggle to find the Sevington lorry park

Lorries have been churning up grass in Sevington