Watch on livestock loads
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• Essex Trading Standards is cracking down on overloaded livestock vehicles following an investigation earlier this month into livestock hauliers travelling through Parkeston Quay, Harwich.
The move was sparked off after trading standards officials found 20 dead cows in calf out of a load of 40 in a truck from Holland.
During a five-day check, officers found 83 overloaded vehicles out of 297, of which 62 were prohibited from leaving the dock.
As a result, one German driver was fined £700 at Clacton magistrates court for being overloaded by 14 cattle weighing 6.5 tonnes.
Ian Forsyth, deputy county trading standards officer, is concerned about the welfare aspect of overloaded livestock vehicles as well as the risk to other road users and damage to roads they can cause.
O The EC Commission is proposing new rules for livestock transport which, if agreed, will improve enforcement as well as set new limits for watering, rest and feeding
Livestock hauliers will have to draw up an itinerary of their route. There will be an inspection and registration system which will involve a plate on the outside of the livestock container to allow enforcement agencies to check space allowances for each animal type.