British Cycling's Policy Adviser Chris Boardman’s proposal to ban HGVs from central London during peak times would have a devastating effect on removals companies working in the capital.

While general hauliers delivering goods to retailers and other commercial premises may be able to work around the restrictions by delivering out of hours, it would be unreasonable to expect people moving house to do so at inconvenient times or even in the middle of the night.

Boardman's letter to London Mayor Boris Johnson comes after six cyclists died on the roads of London within two weeks. Nine of the year's 14 cyclist fatalities in the capital have involved HGVs.

While no one wants to see cyclists killed and injured in this way introducing measures that would cause major disruption to road transport and inevitably damage businesses is surely not the solution.

Christopher Snelling, FTA’s Head of Urban Logistics and Regional Policy commented: “The HGV plays a crucial role in allowing our cities to function, and those who call for it to be banned do so without any thought for how the goods needed every day would get through.  The impact of such a ban would be to substantially increase the cost of living in cities, decrease economic activity, and to increase pollution and congestion.  Given that the London Mayor’s Cycling Commissioner has said that a rush hour lorry ban would only have affected two of the 14 fatalities in London this year, it does not appear to be the simple solution to all our problems that some advocates believe.”

The House of Commons Transport Committee was due to hear evidence on cycle safety on 2 December. The Mover has written to Mayor Johnson pointing out the difficulties the moving industry would face if a ban was introduced and requested that special dispensation be granted for removals vehicles should the proposal be implemented.