A spate of attacks on delivery drivers has led Asda and Tesco to declare some parts of major cities no-go zones after dark.

Last month Asda suspended deliveries in the Whitehawk area of Brighton altogether following reports of "abusive behaviour towards staff".

After complaints by residents, the supermarket later agreed to reinstate its service, but will only make drop-offs before dark.

"We had a meeting with police, local councillors and residents and came to a decision to deliver up to 5pm," said a spokeswoman for Asda. "We have to monitor it to ensure drivers have an environment that is safe to work in. That is our main priority. It's a small minority of people causing the problem but we had to make a stand before something serious happened."

Asda's drivers welcomed the move to restrict deliveries to Whitehawk to daylight hours. "I have personally experienced what it is like to deliver to some back street in Whitehawk at 9pm on a Friday night and it is a scary," one told a local newspaper. "We delivered to Whitehawk for two weeks, and in that two weeks two drivers were attacked and another had shopping stolen. And for a mere £6.28 an hour, I'm not putting myself in any danger."

Meanwhile, Tesco has introduced an after-dark curfew in the Southwark area of London. "It was a case of two roads where drivers would have to leave the vans to deliver to flats," said a spokeswoman. "Things were being stolen, which we tolerated, but then a driver got attacked. We did as Asda are now doing and said we would not deliver to those areas after dark."

In May last year we reported how Sainsbury's and Asda had suspended deliveries to 4,500 homes in the EH14 2 postcode area of Edinburgh. Although Asda has resumed deliveries to these addresses, they are still blacklisted by Sainsbury's. "We don't have restrictions elsewhere, but still consider this part of Edinburgh too unsafe," said a spokeswoman.

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