by David Harris • Armed police are being used to
Page 24

If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
stop truck drivers in northern England as part of an increased antiterrorist effort.
Vehicles are being escorted into a lay-by by outriders where they are surrounded by a team of officers in body armour, equipped with machine pistols and handguns.
Drivers are interviewed, vehicles searched and all details checked on police computer before they are allowed to continue.
A North Yorkshire police spokesman says that the Prevention of Terrorism Act authorises the force to carry out the armed checks. So far no drivers have objected, he says: "We are aware of the civil liberties implications but take the view that a minor infringement of civil liberties is preferable to being blown up."
The North Yorkshire force is no stranger to the IRA threat: in 1992 two officers were shot by IRA gunmen when they stopped a car in a late night check. Ripon Barracks has also been the target of a bomb attack.
But the force has pledged not to target Irish hauliers and to keep the checks on commercial vehicles entirely random.
The spokesman says: "It would not make much sense targeting Irish vehicles. It is fairly unlikely if you are the IRA that you would choose a lorry with Irish plates, so in some ways those are the least likely to be used."