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either be installed on motorways or at the exits to one of the county's ports.
Once the system has identified an overweight truck the council could pass details to a central control room which will alert a police patrol car to stop the vehicle and escort it to a weighbridge. Officials are also considering a flashing message system which will flag up the vehicle's registration number and tell the driver that he is seriously overloaded. Two weeks ago Kent police introduced the flashing registration number system for speeding motorists on the M20.
Kent County Council says it originally wanted to track offenders through their registration numbers, but many of the overloaded vehicles are from the Continent and it would not be easy to trace them to their home countries.
As well as clamping down on offenders, county freight officer Nick Gallop says he wants to make sure law-abiding drivers are not delayed, as they inevitably are by traditional roadside checks: "We want to target the ones on which we have evidence of overloading."
Weight sensors and cameras are already in operation in Berkshire, on the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and on the Barnard Castle bridge in County Durham.
Durham County Council has brought successful prosecutions against overloaded drivers using dynamic weight pads, but only on the basis that the vehicle's plated weight was greater than the permitted weight on the bridge.