Police blitz nabs foreign cowboys
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• Some drivers attempted to hide their identities from the police when a second Thames Valley Police blitz on foreign trucks revealed that more than half the trucks were breaking the law.
Three drivers were fined for failing to substantiate their identities when police teamed up with Customs and Excise, Trading Standards and the Department of Transport on 23 May to carry out two checks on the A34 near Marcham and Junction 12 of the M4.
Several were reported by other drivers for parking up to avoid detection.
Police made five arrests when
they stopped 27 trucks and found six were overweight by up to 25%.
One driver found to have driven for nine consecutive days was fined £100 and prohibited from continuing until he had taken 48 hours rest; three were served with immediate prohibitions for loading offences.
Nine delayed prohibitions were issued for a variety of infringements.
In a recent check on the M1 Thames Valley traffic police imposed immediate prohibitions on nearly half the foreign trucks they stopped (CM 4-10 May): the local magistrate's court was swamped with prosecutions.