Villagers have got so fed up of lorry drivers pooing on the roadside, they’ve set up a toilet and invited people to use it. 

Locals in Hoo, Kent, have been complaining for more than two years about the behaviour of HGV drivers visiting an Amazon warehouse nearby.

They say the drivers park on grass verges alongside busy roads and defecate next to their vehicles – leaving the mess for villagers to clear up.

Spar shop manager Kim Hazelwood said ‘Sometimes there are lorries everywhere you look and what they leave behind really isn’t nice. Everyone’s fed up with the situation but it just doesn’t get any better.’

She said internet retail giant had finally opened facilities for drivers to park up and use but because they were charging, the workers were choosing to drop their trailers off at the depot before parking their cabs along the highway.

Residents have stopped going for walks as it’s common to come across faeces and toilet paper on the ground.

Kim says the situation has been made worse by a decision to close off a layby on Four Elms Hill where the lorries used to park.

‘Surely, Amazon should offer the services for free. That way the problem would be solved,’ she said. 

Fellow villager Gill Hannah said the drivers are causing other issues as well. 

‘Drivers park across footpaths, so we have to walk in roads,’ she said. ‘They have breached every drain, BT and manhole cover from Chattenden to the Amazon warehouse.

‘Since the warehouse opened, this is getting worse, worse and worse. Since Covid, we are encouraged to walk and exercise more, but we can’t because there’s s**t everywhere.

‘It’s uncomfortable to walk past all these vehicles, plus we can’t use the footpaths. Medway Council is not in the slightest interested.’

Last month, parish councillors wrote to council chief Alan Jarrett demanding action be taken. They said lined-up lorries were ‘an accident waiting to happen’. Mr Jarrett said it was ‘being looked into by council officers’.

With increased deliveries due to Christmas, residents fear more traffic and more problems.

Amazon opened the distribution depot in 2018 on the Kingsnorth Industrial Estate. Locals say convoys of lorry drivers from all over Europe relying on their satnav are getting lost and keep knocking on people’s front doors asking ‘Are you the Amazon base?’

Exasperated resident Emma Lawrence said the convoys of confused truckers keep missing the correct turn-off from Ratcliffe Highway and take their lorries down narrow Stoke Road instead.

Emma, who lives in Stoke Road, said the lane is constantly getting blocked by truckers blindly following their satnav and people’s patience is running out.

‘There’s a pathetic little sign on the Ratcliffe Highway. They’re supposed to turn right to the industrial estate, but they’re following a postcode which is taking them down Stoke Road.

‘Drivers are knocking on people’s doors saying things like “I’ve got industrial hoovers for factories” and people are replying “do I look like an Amazon warehouse?”

‘It’s a ridiculous state of affairs and it’s only going to get worse as Christmas approaches. I’m telling lorries to go back the other way, but they keep on coming.

‘I saw about 20 lorries last week and that was just in daylight hours, but you get them at night too. It’s just constant.’

Amazon said it is working with Medway council to enhance the signage close to the site and hauliers have been reminded of the correct postcode.

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