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Police and other agencies
check lorries

by Adam Williams

More than 20 lorries were stopped
and checked by police last Friday as part of a national road safety
operation.

Inspections carried out at Boughton
Weighbridge off the A2, near Brenley Corner, hoped to detect
motorists breaking the law for a range of offences, including
vehicle defects and overweight loads.

Of the vehicles checked during
Operation Mermaid, 12 were cleared of any offences.

But, another 12 were found to have
mechanical defects and half were immediately taken off the
road.

The rest were handed delayed
prohibitions and drivers were allowed to carry on to their
destination to carry out repairs.

Another two vehicles were found to
be dangerously overweight and immediately taken off the road, while
two drivers were also punished for driving beyond their permitted
hours.

Insp Martin Stevens admits many of
the drivers will have been unaware of the offences they were
committing.

He said: “Lots of the vehicles we
inspect aren’t that old and travel very long distances, so it’s
important to educate drivers about the dangers they face. We carry
out these operations several times a year and it’s predominately
foreign vehicles we check, due to the high volume passing through
the county, to and from the continent.

“In recent years, we’ve been much
more pro-active in trying to raise awareness of the dangers
unroadworthy vehicles can cause. More offences are being committed,
but we’re certainly playing our part in trying to keep Britain’s
roads safer as well.”

No arrests were made, but several
drivers were reported for summons or issued with fixed penalty
notices between £60 and £200.