An Ipswich taxi driver has called for Lloyds Avenue to be broadened to allow the public to more easily access their vehicles. 

Lloyds Avenue on Ipswich's Cornhill has been chosen as a key location for redevelopment by the Ipswich Borough Council. 

This funding will come from the council's Town Fund, which was a £25million deal granted in 2021 - half of the deal have been designated redevelopment projects.

The avenue currently has a taxi rank in between the vacant Debenhams and Lloyds Bank "is not wide enough", says taxi driver Steve Becker. 

"It does not allow for space to even U-turn on this road with a dead-end," he added. 

Ipswich Star: Ipswich Borough Council has designated more than half of its £25m Town Fund to town redevelopment projects.Ipswich Borough Council has designated more than half of its £25m Town Fund to town redevelopment projects. (Image: Shikhar Talwar)

Mr Becker said other drivers like him want the road to be made wider so that it is more accessible for them.  

The council has previously acknowledged this and carried out a consultation on February 21 with taxi drivers to ask for their views on the concept and design of the area. 

An Ipswich Borough Council spokesman said: "With funding being provided by the Towns Fund, this public realm improvement project is underway, and those businesses potentially affected by any redevelopment have been consulted by the project team about the early concept designs."

Amongst those businesses is Unex, the owner of Ipswich's former Debenhams department store which has been vacant since 2021. 

Adrian Morris, Unex's managing director, had previously told the BBC the firm had seen interest in the building – but the avenue needs to be pedestrianised to secure a deal.

He said: "However due to the depth of the floor plates we do ideally need Lloyds Avenue to be pedestrianised to make it more appealing to potential tenants that will front onto Lloyds Avenue."

Ipswich Star: The council consulted Unex, the owner of Debenham's which has been vacant since 2021. The council consulted Unex, the owner of Debenham's which has been vacant since 2021.  (Image: Shikhar Talwar)

However, taxi driver Andrew Scott disagrees with this notion. 

He said: "It's not going to help if the area is pedestrianised – how would it work if people can't get their shopping bags to us in the taxi rank?

"We drivers want to see the opposite of this, we want a larger area, more space for taxis and more space for shoppers overall."

The proposal for Lloyds Avenue will be discussed in early May.