Mont Blanc mix-up
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
DEPARTMENT of Trade officials were called in this week to intervene in a row between British drivers and French police.
The trouble started two weeks ago when gendarmes stationed at the Mont Blanc tunnel began stopping vehicles and asking drivers to show their current road worthiness certificates.
Drivers unable to produce the documents on the spot were fined up to 800 francs. Vehicles were impounded until the cash was raised.
One irate driver contacted the international division of the RHA and the Department of Transport complaining about the action of the French police.
An RHA spokesman said: "It was a question of an overzealous policeman. He was quoting from a proposed EEC agreement of 1954 which never came into being.
A spokesman for the DTp said: "We had to go to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to get this matter sorted out. One doesn't have to carry vehicle documents in Britain so why should drivers believe that France is any different?"
Now the Department of Transport is urging all drivers hit by fines to get in touch with it in order that the money can be refunded.