Van hire company breaks silence after being accused of ruining 'lovely' Wirral seafront

A van hire firm accused of ruining a town’s 'lovely' seafront by parking dozens of vehicles along the promenade has apologised as it breaks silence after weeks of criticism.

West Wallasey Van Hire based off Cross Lane in Wirral has been heavily criticised after it began taking up parking spots along King’s Parade in New Brighton and Wallasey. The firm said the overflow was caused by the sudden return of rental vehicles as a short supply caused by microchip shortages, manufacturing challenges, and the war in Ukraine was resolved.

Complaints can be seen on the company's Google reviews, with one resident writing: "This company has resorted to parking vans all down New Brighton promenade. They have shown very little care and safety for the local community. This is absolutely shocking behaviour. Another added: "This company needs to stop dumping their entire fleet of vans around the Wirral. It's not their personal car park."

The company has now agreed a lease with Wirral Council to use the site of Wallasey’s former gasholders off Dock Road in Seacombe for two years and not to park its vehicles on the road. It expects to move all vans off the promenade by the end of March.

In an open letter to residents, shared this week, West Wallasey Van Hire said: “We feel the Wirral community deserves an explanation as to the recent parking of vehicles and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to anyone visiting the affected areas of New Brighton and Wallasey.

“The overflow of around 100 vehicles was caused by a sudden return of rental vehicles which had been supplied to businesses and local authorities on a temporary basis when vehicles were in short supply. The short supply was the result of Covid related manufacturing challenges, microchip shortages and the war in Ukraine where Ford produces its wiring looms. These manufacturing challenges resolved at pace during the last quarter of 2023, leading to the sudden return of the temporary vehicles supplied.

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“The return of these vehicles (at some point) was anticipated, and Wirral Council has been actively engaged with West Wallasey since February 2023. The commercial Gas Works site was proposed as a solution and was accepted by West Wallasey. It was anticipated that the site would be made available to West Wallasey by mid-2023, but regrettably unexpected delays occurred throughout the year. The temporary short-term lease of redundant floors in the Conway Street multistorey carpark requested prior to Christmas as an interim solution also failed to materialise."

The Wallasey-founded business - which employs more than 300 local residents - continued: “On 7 February 2024 a lease for the Gas Works site was completed and permission to carry out essential work to enable the site to be used safely was granted on 22 February 2024. Works commenced immediately in collaboration with Cadent and are expected to complete this month. We would like to assure all residents that the vehicles located in Wallasey and New Brighton will be relocated as soon as the works are complete, and we are sorry for the inconvenience caused to residents whilst we have attempted to resolve this issue."

The company added that it has "never used our community outreach for marketing purposes as we do not do it for commercial gain" noting, "in the past three years alone we have donated more than £1,000,000 to supporting community projects, and we plan to continue this community support in future years". The full letter is available here.

A Wirral Council spokesperson said: “The council has been assured by WWVH that the work will be completed and the vehicles moved by the end of the month. The council continues to monitor the situation and remain in close dialogue with the company."