Truck drivers from across the country have hit back at complaints made about behaviour at a lorry park in Melksham.

People living in Spa Court lobbied a town council meeting earlier this month to raise problems at the King Street lorry park, which is just behind their homes.

They are fed up with lorry drivers using the area as a toilet, peering into their homes from the cabs, running their engines at all hours of the night and even getting changed in front of them.

The town council has written to Wiltshire Council calling for the closure of the car park to lorries as soon as possible.

But since the story was printed, the Wiltshire Times’ newsroom has been deluged by emails from the lorry driving community, who read about the issue on trucknet.com - an internet forum for drivers.

People using the forum were invited by drivers to contact the Wiltshire Times and give their opinions on the matter.

Conor Turton, who said he has been driving for a living throughout the UK for the past 15 years although he hasn’t stayed overnight in Melksham, said drivers were often left with nowhere to park after many local authorities ‘actively closed truck stops, banned overnight parking in laybys and refused planning permission for new truckstops’.

He said: “We work up to 15 hours a day and up to 84 hours a week.

“At the end of a 15-hour day, would your readers be happy to have to sleep in the 8ft by 6ft box you've been working in all day with no toilet facilities, no way to get a wash or shower, to get a hot meal, where your sleep is regularly disturbed and you worry about being robbed. The resounding reply would be a no. And neither do we.

“We don't like having to sleep in a layby or on the side of the road where you can't go to the toilet, can't get a wash and get woken up as passing cars rock the cab.

“We are forced to do it because of the likes of your readership who boycott lorry park planning applications.”

Another driver questioned why a toilet has not been provided by the council for lorry drivers to use.

*A letter signed by 27 residents has been sent into the Wiltshire Times calling for the lorry park to be closed: page 17/18