BISHOP’S WALTHAM is so riddled with rubbish trucks that even ambulances are being delayed, a councillor has claimed.

City Cllr Colin Chamberlain took the matter up at Bishop’s Waltham’s Parish Council on Tuesday (September 10).

He said: “We have umpteen commercial dustcarts coming in and out of the town. The other day an ambulance was held up. It was held up for several minutes with its blue lights flashing, but the driver did not even know it was there.

“You have now got three or four different contractors coming in every day and now it’s becoming a serious issue.”

The problem arises because commercial waste is the individual responsibility of companies and not the council – meaning there is little or no coordination, resulting in multiple contractors and dustcarts using the narrow, cobbled streets of the market town.

Cllr Chamberlain mooted the idea that businesses could emulate those in Winchester by cooperating on the collection of waste. The shared costs could result in significant savings, he said.

But Cllr Steve Miller, chairman of the town’s Chamber of Trade, said it was something the parish could investigate, but warned that: “Some of the shops here are national chains and will have their own contracts in place that they can’t change.”

It’s not the first time councillors have pointed the finger at large commercial vehicles in the town centre.

In April the Co-op supermarket rejected claims that its deliveries were damaging the town’s cafe culture.

A spokesman for Southern Co-operative, which runs two stores in Bishop’s Waltham, said at the time: “In some locations deliveries are made in less than ideal conditions.”