Off our high street, Deliveroo riders told

DELIVEROO bikes have been banned from a high street as parking on pavements turned the road into a “big drive-through”.

In a new scheme that could be rolled out across the country, Brentwood borough council in Essex said the town had a problem with vehicles parking illegally on pavements and takeaway couriers were “one of the biggest culprits”.

Riders will now be allowed 15 minutes of free parking in off-street bays.

Chris Hossack, the council’s leader, said the scheme was designed to alleviate any potential parking issues on the high street in the future.

He said: “No one from Deliveroo can park in the high street – they are banned. There is no denying that most high streets across the UK have kind of turned into big drive-throughs – whether they be for pizzas or Chinese takeaways.

“But in order to help them we have allocated off-street parking bays where they can pull up and get 15 minutes’ grace.

“We are pioneering a system with Deliveroo, they haven’t done it with any other council yet – they are even sharing what we are doing with city councils like Cardiff and Edinburgh.”

Deliveroo said it did not regard the move as a “ban”.

A company spokesman said: “We’ve been working with Brentwood council to create a pilot parking scheme for riders to grant them permission to park free in permitted zones.”

Brentwood High Street saw more parking fines than any other in Essex, with 3,333 penalty charge notices issued between July 1 last year and June 30 2022, a total of £80,571 in fines, according to the BBC.