Heathrow to open Uber car park after drivers 'litter and urinate in residents' gardens'

Oaks Road was said to be swamped with Uber drivers
Amir Patwa
Tom Marshall11 May 2016

Heathrow is opening a special car park for Uber drivers after they were accused of making life a misery in villages around the airport.

Drivers were accused of littering, playing music in the early hours, keeping their engines running and even urinating in gardens while their cars were lined up in quiet residential streets, waiting to collect airport passengers.

Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, admitted Uber were causing “a huge amount of local distress” as he announced plans for the dedicated car park.

Mr Holland-Kaye said: "Over the last couple of years private hire vehicles, Uber and their like, have just expanded phenomenally and they started to cause a real issue to our local communities.

Mr Holland-Kaye said: "Over the last couple of years private hire vehicles, Uber and their like, have just expanded phenomenally and they started to cause a real issue to our local communities.

"We had Uber drivers parking in people's driveways, leaving their rubbish in their gardens, causing a huge amount of local distress because they were trying to get as close as possible to the airport to pick up a ride.

"We don't control private hire vehicles but I feel we have a responsibility to local communities to do right by them.”

The new parking area opens next month and Uber has also introduced technology which means drivers parked up in residential streets around the airport are blocked from receiving bookings.

One resident, known only as Ashley, 21, said: “Some of the drivers have been very confrontational.

“They're congregating here, causing congestion, leaving bottles full of urine all over the place, and littering, leaving Greggs wrappers, McDonalds wrappers.

“I don't have any animosity towards Uber, I'm an Uber customer, but they don't have to wait outside somebody's front door.”

A spokesman for Uber said the block on drivers parking in residential streets around Heathrow was introduced back in January.

Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber in London, added: “We welcome Heathrow's announcement of a dedicated car park for licensed private hire vehicles as it's something we have been calling for for many months.

“Back in January we stopped booking requests going to any Uber partner-drivers parked in residential streets around Heathrow."

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