Trucks in Stamford suffer for school-run congestion
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OPERATORS IN A Lincolnshire town suffering from gridlocked roads say a crackdown on LGVs flouting a truck ban ignores the real cause of the traffic jams — school runs.
Police staged 'stop checks' last week to prevent trucks from travelling through the town of Stamford, 15 miles north of Peterborough. Some 25 LGVs were stopped and 16 drivers received £30 fines for attempting to break the 7.5-tonne limit. The remaining nine vehicles were ordered to find alternative routes.
Inspector Gary Stewart says: This is a positive result by my team and hopefully the drivers who were stopped have learned that Stamford cannot be used as a shortcut."
Stamford-based Sanders and Woods Transport agrees that UK as well as foreign-registered vehicles are ignoring the ban, but says they are not the cause of traffic chaos in the historic town.
A spokesman explains: "Invariably it's the school run. It's that, rather than heavy trucks, that causes the congestion."
Sanders and Woods director Steve Tillington adds: The people of Stamford will moan about anything: lorries are one of the things nobody likes. But without a doubt it's the high-school run—there are two big schools, a boys' and a girls'."