Lorry drivers are planning to stage a protest at the port of Liverpool in a row over toilet and catering facilities.

The hauliers describe conditions as “inhumane” with a lack of adequate services for drivers at the end of often long journeys.

The protest will take place next Friday morning outside the main entrance to the Royal Seaforth Container Dock.

The drivers are being backed by their trade union Unite who told the ECHO that docks owner Peel Ports has shown no interest in providing facilities for drivers, or improving what it describes as “inadequate” facilities for dockworkers.

Unite’s regional officer for transport in the North West, Colin Carr, says he has not yet received any response to a letter sent to port management in early December.

Mr Carr added that the union has been seeking to raise the issue for more than a year and members have decided it is now time to take action.

Port management, however, insists it has received no such letter.

Mr Carr said: “These guys can’t just leave the lorries. Security and the police would take a dim view of an unattended lorry.”

He told the ECHO that the absence of any facilities for drivers becomes even more critical when delays at the port mean that long queues of lorries form along Regent Road and Dunningsbridge Road.

He added: “You get this stack of lorries, it happens on a regular basis. There is nowhere to go.”

Mr Carr said that Peel Ports should provide toilet, shower and catering facilities for drivers in a secure location inside the docks complex.

He added: “It’s inhumane. Even if they put a couple of portable toilets along, it would be better. Huge swathes of land along that dock are not used. They could easily have a lay-down area. It’s not beyond the wit and purse-strings of Peel Ports.”

Interested in this article? Read more at Liverpool Echo