London ban to cost £500
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Instant fines of £500 could await truckers caught out in the wrong part of London. Guy Sheppard reports.
HAULILRS WHO BREAK the London Lorry Ban could be forced to a fixed penalty of £500 in the new year.
The Association of London Government is planning to decriminalise breaches of the ban from April to save the expense of taking culprits to court.
The level of the penalty is due to be decided next month (January) but an ALG report suggests it will be between £100 and £500 for operators and between £100 and 1200 for drivers.
Nick Lester, ALG's director of transport and environment, reports that the maximum fine which magistrates currently impose is £1,000. but the average amount charged is £250.
"The average for drivers is less than that therefore it's likely that the penalty for drivers will be less when the offence is decriminalised." he explains.
Lester adds that hauliers will find it easier to challenge the penalties because an adjudicator will "operate in a much more userfocused fashion" than the courts.
Ken Costello, regional policy manager for the Freight Transport Association, says it wants to see the penalty set at around £250.
We have been assured that penalties won't be given solely on the basis of camera evidence and that a witness statement from one of the enforcement officers will be required," he reports.
According to the ALG, about 3,000 trucks were spotted break ing the ban on night-time and weekend deliveries last year • To appeal against an LLB fine see www.richmond.gov.uk/dept4 caring/legalitratliddefatdt.htin