Croydon CR0 and CR9
Our depot sits on Featherbed Lane, so a Croydon site is roughly eight minutes from the yard.
Grab lorry hire in Croydon is a crane-mounted collection service for soil, rubble, concrete and green waste. A Prime Waste Services grab lorry carries up to 20 cubic yards and around 16 tonnes, reaching about 7.5 metres from the kerb. We hold waste carrier registration CBDU480663 and operator licence OK2066087.
Send the site postcode, what is on the ground and when you need it moved. We will come back with a written quotation. There is no charge for a quote and no obligation to book.
Lines are answered by the people who run the lorries, not a call centre. Same-day collection is often possible but always subject to availability.
The lorry pulls up on the road outside, the operator drops the stabiliser legs onto firm ground and works the Epsilon crane from the kerb. Muck, rubble and broken concrete come over a fence or across a driveway in one continuous lift, which is the practical difference between our grab hire services and a container that sits on the street for a week.
A single load is 20 cubic yards and up to 16 tonnes, subject to loading and road restrictions. On a rear extension dig in CR0 that usually means one visit instead of three skip exchanges, and the frontage is clear again within the hour.
Reach is the other half of it. The crane works up to 7.5 metres from the side of the vehicle, depending on the vehicle and site conditions, so the spoil heap does not have to sit beside the kerb. On the terraced streets off the A235 London Road, that reach is often the only way to load at all.
Croydon Council states that the roads covered by red route restrictions in the borough are the A23 and the A232, so stopping, loading and unloading on the A23 Purley Way and on the A232 Croydon Flyover and Duppas Hill Road is restricted. That single fact decides a lot of jobs along those frontages. The council’s transport strategy describes the A23 as the north-south arterial linking Croydon to central London and the south coast, and the A232 as the east-west route skirting the southern side of the metropolitan centre towards Sutton and Bromley.
Inside the centre, the Centre Permit Zone applies as one of the council’s controlled parking zones, so kerbside waiting and loading is permit-controlled. The Borough Transport Strategy also identifies six Network Rail bridge structures in the borough carrying an 18 to 20 tonne weight limit and programmed for strengthening or replacement, among them Windmill Bridge at St James and Blackhorse Lane South on the northern approaches to the town centre. A fully loaded vehicle has to be routed around those structures, which is why we ask early which side of the railway a site sits on.
Ground conditions here are not ordinary either. The adopted Local Plan states that a formation of chalk underlies Croydon and that fractures in the rock allow groundwater to collect and flow underground, supplying over 70 per cent of the borough’s drinking water, and it requires development to account for possible groundwater contamination in Environment Agency Source Protection Zones 1 and 2. Material dug from town centre sites is commonly made ground over Palaeogene clays and sands sitting above that chalk, so it needs describing accurately before it is loaded rather than after.
There is a great deal of that material moving at the moment. The Croydon Opportunity Area is identified in the Local Plan as having capacity for over 10,650 homes across more than 70 allocated development sites, almost one third of all new homes planned in the borough, and the council’s planning committee has endorsed Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s North End Quarter Masterplan Framework covering the Whitgift Centre, the Allders building and the surrounding area.
We remove soil, stones, muck, concrete, rubble, hardcore, demolition waste and green waste. Those are the loads a grab is built for, and they are what most Croydon sites produce: dig arisings from an extension, broken slabs from a patio lift, or hardcore off a driveway breakout.
The same vehicle comes back loaded when materials are going the other way. We deliver MOT Type 1, crushed concrete, ballast, sharp sand, building sand, topsoil and shingle, placed by the crane rather than tipped in a heap at the end of the drive.
A short list of items is not accepted on a standard booking. Tell us before the lorry is dispatched if any of them are in the pile, because they need a separate route.
The Croydon answer usually turns on the frontage rather than the volume.
| Consideration | Grab lorry | Skip hire |
|---|---|---|
| Volume in one visit | 20 cubic yards and up to 16 tonnes, subject to loading and road restrictions | A builders’ skip takes a fraction of that, so heavy spoil needs repeat exchanges |
| Red route frontage | Stops only for as long as it takes to load, which suits work off the A23 and A232 | A stationary container is not an option where stopping, loading and unloading are restricted |
| Permit zone kerb | Nothing is left behind on the street once the load is on | A skip on the highway in the Centre Permit Zone is permit-controlled for the whole hire |
| Loading method | Crane reaches about 7.5 metres from the side of the vehicle, over fences and across verges | Everything is carried or barrowed to the container by hand |
| Heavy material | Chalky spoil, concrete, rubble and hardcore are exactly what the grab is designed for | Containers often hit their weight limit long before they look full |
| Best suited to | Muck away, driveway breakouts and bulk hardcore across CR0 and CR9 | Light mixed waste from a strip-out where the container can stand off the highway |
Both have a place. Where the load is heavy and the frontage is restricted, the lorry usually wins on time.
Our operating centre is Pear Tree Farm, Featherbed Lane, Croydon CR0 9AA, with four vehicles authorised there under operator licence OK2066087. For a job inside CR0 or CR9 the run is roughly eight minutes on a clear road.
Treat that as a typical figure rather than a fixed one. A loaded eight-wheeler adds roughly 15 to 20 per cent to a car journey time, and the Borough Transport Strategy names Fiveways and the Lombard roundabout on the A23, along with Wellesley Road at Station Road and George Street at Park Lane, as congestion hotspots that larger vehicles feel first.
Same-day collection is often possible but always subject to availability. Booking a day ahead gives the best chance of the slot you want, particularly on a permit-controlled street where the frontage has to be kept clear.
Croydon is a London borough, so it sits inside both schemes. Transport for London states that the ULEZ, LEZ and Direct Vision Standard operate in the same area across all London boroughs and the City of London, with the LEZ applying to lorries, vans and specialist heavy vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and to buses, minibuses and coaches over 5 tonnes.
Compliance sits with the operator rather than the customer. It is still worth checking, because a vehicle that cannot legally reach your street is no use however cheap the quote looks.
Duty of care rests with the producer of the waste as well as the carrier. If material from your site turns up fly-tipped, the trail comes back to whoever handed it over, which is why documentation is worth more than a saving on an unregistered van.
Prime Waste Services Ltd is registered waste carrier CBDU480663, company number 14793814, trading since April 2023 and fully insured. Operatives are CPCS compliant and CSCS registered, and every load is documented so the transfer note goes straight into your file.
“Rapid response, great service, fair prices. I would happily recommend Prime Waste Services LTD to friends and family.” (David Robins)
No permit is needed for the lorry itself, because it loads from the road and leaves. A container standing on the highway is a different matter: Croydon town centre falls within the Centre Permit Zone, where kerbside waiting and loading is permit-controlled, and the A23 and A232 are red routes where stopping, loading and unloading are restricted. Give us the street and we will work out where the vehicle can legally sit.
Twenty cubic yards and up to 16 tonnes per job, subject to loading and road restrictions. Weight is usually the limit rather than volume, because wet clay, chalky spoil and broken concrete are dense, so a lorry can reach its legal weight before the body looks full. Send us the rough dimensions of the dig and we will tell you how many loads it is likely to be.
No. Factory Lane, West Croydon CR0 3RL is a household site for Croydon residents, and the South London Waste Partnership states that commercial and industrial waste must not be brought to its sites. Croydon Council also states that permits are not issued for vans. Trade waste has to move on a registered carrier’s vehicle and be documented with a waste transfer note.
Yes, with the loading position agreed in advance. The A23 is one of the two red routes in the borough, so stopping, loading and unloading are restricted and the lorry cannot simply wait. The Borough Transport Strategy also names Fiveways and the Lombard roundabout as pinch points where heavy vehicles serving the Purley Way retail and industrial areas disrupt through traffic, so timing counts as much as position.
Same-day collection is often possible but always subject to availability. The operating centre is at Featherbed Lane in CR0, roughly eight minutes from most sites in the borough, so a gap in the schedule can often be filled the same morning. Call early if the material is already dug and the site has to be clear before other trades arrive.
Asbestos, gas bottles, batteries, railway sleepers, mattresses, tyres, fridges, freezers, paint, chemicals and liquids are not accepted on a standard booking. Everything usual on a construction or garden clearance list is fine, including soil, stones, muck, concrete, rubble, hardcore, demolition waste and green waste. If one item is in doubt, ask before the lorry is loaded rather than after.
Sources and further reading
Call 07778 541120 with the site postcode and what is on the ground, and we will quote grab lorry hire in Croydon the same day.
