Deliveroo apology after driver tears across front lawn before narrowly missing elderly lady

Deliveroo has apologised after a woman appeared to catch a driver riding a moped across her front garden ‘at speed’ before nearly hit an elderly woman walking on a path. Resident Alanna Harding, who has reported the matter to Avon and Somerset Police, said: “To all delivery drivers for Deliveroo, this is not acceptable driving.”

The incident happened in Elm Close in Little Stoke on Saturday (November 19) afternoon. Footage captured by a camera at Ms Harding’s front door showed the moped rider crossing her front lawn from a footpath between homes in the estate to reach an alleyway.

Ms Harding said: “The rider came along the footpath heading past my house. They then changed direction and cut across my garden at speed to go down the footpath between my house and my neighbours. An elderly lady was walking up between the houses, which they narrowly missed.

“The rider almost ran over a cat as they swerved [around] the lady. The rider then drove off at speed. My garden now has tyre marks. I’ve reported it to Deliveroo. I’ve also reported it to the police.”

After sharing the screenshot of what happened on a local Facebook group, other users responded with their concerns. One man said: “Companies that use these home delivery services really need to take more responsibility for there action.”

Ms Harding received a quick response from Deliveroo after making a complaint. A member of the company’s customer care centre said: “We appreciate you bringing this issue to your attention. At Deliveroo, we require all reiders to meet our minimum safety standards and, as with all road uses, expect them to obey the Highway Code at all times. I’m sorry if this wasn’t the case in this instance.”

He added the details of the incident would be shared with the ‘rider operations team’ to put it to riders in the local area and ‘prevent this issued happening in the future’.

The pandemic saw a rise in companies like Deliveroo and Uber in Bristol which were able to deliver food and drinks when people were unable to leave their homes. Since then, both groups have appeared to grow with the number of drivers serving the city increasing.