Tesco fined over ban
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Transport Scheme lorry ban has cost Tesco Stores and an agency driver £500 in fines and costs.The company and driver John Harrison admitted breaching Condition 5 of the order, before Brent magistrates.
Prosecuting for the London Borough of Richmond, Rex Billingham said the Order forbids vehicles over 16.5 tonnes to use roads in Central London between 21:00 and 07:00 hours. The holders of exemption permits are allowed to make deliveries between those times under conditions which include exclusion of some streets.
At 06:32hrs on 20 July a Tesco lorry was seen being driven in Craven Park a restricted street for the purposes of the order. Enquiries revealed that the vehicle was making deliveries from Harlow to the Tesco store on Portobello Road.
-111% I AA For Tesco, Geoffrey Jones said that it was extremely difficult to make deliveries in London during the day. Consequently, deliveries were made overnight to the company's 12 stores in London affected by the order. He said Tesco was aware of the permitted routes and its drivers were briefed on these. Maps and routes were displayed, so drivers knew the route to follow. The drivers were making regular journeys of this type.
Driver Harrison had worked for Tesco for nearly two years, so there could be no excuse that he was new to the job. His agency Drivers Unlimited, and Tesco had instructed him about the route to follow. It did not know why Harrison had not used the specified route. It made no difference to his rate of pay.
Had Harrison been a Tesco employee, he would have been suspended for six weeks, said Jones, adding that Tesco had stopped using him ; an indication of the steps the company took to ensure drivers did as they were told.
Harrison said in a letter to the court that he had thought the ban lifted at 06:001its and not 07:00his The magistrates fined the Tesco and Harrkin £200 each and ordered them each to pay 150 prosecution costs.