TRAFFIC cones have been removed from outside an Amazon depot after a business owner complained to a council and police until the company got 'a kick up the backside'.
The cones, placed there by Amazon, appeared across Hampton Lovett industrial estate near Droitwich and even blocked off legitimate car parking spaces for other businesses and visitors.
However, Charles Sterling, who complained about the issue, said the cones had all been removed on Friday, describing it 'as a good result for everyone' and a 'kick up the backside for Amazon'.
He said: "Amazon did not do anything for the first two weeks. Then I made a complaint to the council and I suspect they have been around to the estate and kicked them up the backside.
"All the cones have gone now. It takes the pressure off everyone else.
"The key thing is that the white vans have gone. It's proof that the big companies have to comply with the law. If the various agencies enforced the law there would be no requirement for this aggravation."
Previously, Mr Sterling said Amazon DWR1 were using cones to block off parking spaces which do not belong to the company and are designed for everyone.
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The red and white cones started appearing at the start of September which he said is intended to stop anyone parking in front of Amazon's base, pushing the traffic problems elsewhere on the estate.
The business owner said Amazon was acting like 'God Almighty' as they coned off the roads of the Droitwich estate.
Wychavon District Council said it would step up patrols of the industrial estate. Kelly Griffin, Car Parking Operations Manager for Wychavon District Council, said: “Following feedback we have increased civil enforcement patrols in the area and we also reported the placing of cones on the highway to Worcestershire County Council. We’re pleased these actions have had an impact."
Mr Sterling, 63, owner of Sterling Power Products, estimated around 15 parking spaces have been coned off by Amazon on Wassage Way and Kingswood Road and believes there were between 150 to 200 cones at one stage.
"Amazon think they are God Almighty on this estate and the rest of us are made to feel like peasants," he said.
Mr Sterling said it was Amazon's subcontracted drivers who were then forced to find other places to park elsewhere on the estate, creating the parking issues. Drivers with the official Amazon livery were using the spaces inside the depot.
A spokesperson for Amazon said: “We always strive to be a good neighbour and we’re looking into this matter.”
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