Police arrest 70 in roadside blitz
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by Jane Sayer • Seventy drivers, five of them already disqualified, were arrested during a two-day police operation, codenamed Mermaid, which targeted heavy goods vehicles nationwide.
One of the drivers, stopped in North Wales, was an escaped prisoner wanted for questioning in connection with a robbery. More than 200 drivers were found to be claiming unemployment benefit while working.
Preliminary results from the Association of Chief Police Officers show that of the 9,472 vehicles checked, 644 were issued with immediate prohibitions and 494 received delayed ones.
The operation, involving Customs, the Vehicle Inspectorate and Trading Standards, found 335 trucks with vehicle defects, 172 without road tax and 158 INrithout an 0-licence.
There were also 1,193 tachograph offences, 257 overweight lorries.
One of the worst vehicle defects spotted was one in Wiltshire where a throttle cable had snapped and the driver, who had already exceeded his hours, had tied a length of webbing to the cable and was pulling it with one hand while steering with the other.
In Warwickshire, police stopped an artic with a 300mm crack in a semitrailer crossbeam, and in Strathclyde a driver, working while banned for 10 years following three drink/driving convictions, was caught using a vehicle with a faulty fifth-wheel securing device which meant that the trailer could have parted company at anytime, says ACPO.
The spot checks also recovered stolen property including five vans, an attic, a caravan, and some scaffolding.
In Surrey two people are currently on police bail following the recovery of £16,000 worth of stolen whisky. In London a French driver was stopped after running for 21 hours without a break.