Spar owner says e-scooter parking is 'destroying' shop

Ashish Gajjar says the scheme is causing parking chaos and for his customers to go elsewhere.

At the end of May, Southampton City Council installed 14 e-scooter and cycle bays in roads across the city.

Ashish Gajjar, who owns Spar in Regents Park, is furious the council put one of the bays on Claremont Crescent - directly outside of his store, where parking is already difficult.

Ashish, 44, has owned the Regents Park Road store for 14 years and says that the new e-scooter and cycle bay has made his job more challenging than ever.

He said: “The available parking for cars is already extremely limited and the council have taken up valuable space with a bay that will hardly be used.

Ashish Gajjar outside his store (Image: NQ) “So many have come me and said ‘why; why have the council done this?’ – I have seen regular customers who have come to my shop for years drive off in the other direction because they are sick of driving in circles looking for a space.

“It's turning customers away from the shop.

“The bin men can’t even get down Claremont Crescent to empty my bin store – now the council have made matters worse.

“Additionally, when I receive deliveries, the lorry blocks the road completely, causing a significant inconvenience with no solution for the delivery vehicle to park and unload.”

READ MORE: Drivers angry about e-scooter and bike bays in Southampton

Making matters worse is that Ashish recently spent £90,000 renovating the store ‘from ceiling to floor.’

The shop owner continued: “The last few weeks I have noticed a big difference in our takings - I have even seen people say ‘I won’t go there anymore it's too hard to park’ on Facebook.”

Parking is a common issue on Claremont Crescent (Image: NQ) Southampton City Council's cabinet member for environment and transport, Cllr Eamonn Keogh, has previously explained that the carriageway sites will be under review for two months following installation.

He explained: “During this two-month period, we will require the operator to supply data on parking compliance, the number of toppled vehicles, parking tidiness and will review this alongside any resident or councillor feedback.

“Following this, we will make a recommendation on any sites with potential issues.”

Ashish added: “Two months is too long for us to have to wait for the council to make a decision and if they decide to rip it up its public money wasted.”

In response to Ashish’s issues, a spokesperson from Southampton City Council said: “We have spoken with the shopkeeper just this week and advised that we will monitor the site for two months as we do with all bays.”