VI claims success in non-EU driver blitz
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• by Karen Miles The Vehicle Inspectorate says it is winning the fight against UK operators who are illegally using eastern European drivers, About 40 hauliers have been reported to VI staff for using cheap drivers from outside the European Union: most have now been warned by VI staff and police that they are acting illegally The VI has also launched a number of prosecutions and has Closed a large London-based company which was using 20 Turkish drivers in UKregistered vehicles.
"I think we are making good inroads into the problem," says one VI source. "We aren't getting the complaints from hauliers that we were."
Essex owner-driver Nigel Harness, who has campaigned against the influx of illegal drivers, agrees awareness among UK operators has risen but warns that many companies are still using these outlawed drivers. Harness adds that eastern European hauliers are still moving loads within the European Union without the proper authorisation.
"Even if the VI has apparently improved I still want to know why the immigration authorities at Dover are still failing to stop and check eastern Europeans at the dock," he says.