Judges order French to return impounded truck
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• French authorities have been forced by appeal judges to return an impounded Irish-registered truck three months after it was confiscated.
Aidan Caldwell of Limerickbased Heffernan Transport was fined .050 after being stopped for ignoring a weight restriction on the N86 in southern France.
French magistrates impounded his .£90.000 tractor unit and trailer despite Caldwell's claims that one of the weight signs was missing and he could not turn around once he realised his mistake (CM 11-18 August).
Sheila McCabe of the Irish Road Haulage Association, who was present at the court case, says a Frenchman charged with the same offence did not get his truck back.
Ever since this incident Irish hauliers have been up in arms over the treatment Heffernan received at the hands of the French authorities.
Caldwell, who has been unemployed since the incident, is expected to resume work when the truck is returned in about two weeks.