Call for Coca-Cola truck to be banned permanently as festive route misses South Yorkshire

A call has gone out to ban the Coca-Cola Christmas truck permanently from South Yorkshire after Doncaster and Sheffield were left off its annual festive tour.
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Campaigners say the gas-guzzling tour is bad for the environment and that the traditional ‘Holidays are Coming’ tour of Britain should be axed.

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Mark Hall, of businesswaste.co.uk, is behind the crusade, calling for a permanent ban of the lorry which has attracted thousands of visitors across the UK in recent years.

The Coca-Cola truck The Coca-Cola truck
The Coca-Cola truck
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He said: “It's time to put the Coca-Cola Christmas truck tour on the naughty list. Let's dump one of the stupidest Christmas 'traditions.’

“Driving a truck the length and breadth of the country for no clear purpose sets a bad example.

"Those fizzy pop guys night have invented the red-suited Santa, but they've ruined Christmas," he added.

"The fact is, they're driving lorries over 3,000 miles up and down the country, then up and down the country, then up and down the country one final time on completely unnecessary journeys, with zero route planning. That's the same as driving from London to Moscow – and back again!"

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According to BusinessWaste.co.uk statistics, the American-styled Coca-Cola Scania T Cab lorry:

Does 10.6 miles to the gallon

Has an 11-litre engine

Weighs 40 tonnes fully-loaded with promotional fizzy pop

Will use 287 gallons (1,305 litres) of diesel fuel

At current fuel prices (£1.31/litre) that's £1,709 – about the same that an average family will spend on fuel annually

That's the same as 750 school lunches

"That doesn't look good, no matter which way you look at it," said Mr Hall, "All so you can queue in the winter cold and have your photograph taken with a lorry!"

On this year's tour, Coca-Cola are giving 10p to homeless charity Crisis for every bottle or can dropped into their recycling bins during the tour.

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He added: “So why don't Coca-Cola just make a flagship donation to charity anyway? The fuel cost of the tour alone could cover shelter and meals for 60 homeless people at Christmas.

"Yes, they're trying to incentivise recycling, which is praiseworthy, but when you compare the environmental impact of the tour against charitable pledges, we're not sure there's a good trade-off.”

He said: "We're supposed to be cutting unnecessary journeys, not making more of them."

Earlier this month, it was announced that neither Doncaster or Sheffield will feature on this year’s tour, with Gainsborough the nearest stopping off point.