Call for shorter London curfew
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• London borough councils will consider the capital's lorry ban at a meeting this Friday following a Road Haulage Association request to reduce the curfew's duration.
The RHA asked for the 00:0007:00hrs ban to be reduced by one hour to end at 06:00hrs in the morning, citing a change in working patterns that has led many London residents to get up earlier.
It claims such a reduction would boost business without harming the environment.
But the Lorry Control Unit has already recommended that the ban should stay because the London Boroughs Transport Committee lacks the £50,000 necessary to test the environmental effects of a change.
There is little point in even considering the proposal until the Government publishes a report on London traffic deregulation in December, says the LCU. Roads minister Steven Norris has already said he will not alter the permit system that allows some trucks to breach the night-time/weekend ban unless a better alternative can be found.
"We feel confident that the permit system will stay," says the LCU, despite pressure from Bromley and Enfield councils to ease the rules.
O The London Lorry Control Unit prosecuted 715 hauliers out of just 1,636 LGVs checked during the first six months of 1995. It issued 94 warnings and sent details of 30 other alleged offenses to the relevant agencies. Seven vehicles were found to be running without 0licences; six were contravening tacho rules; and one driver failed a breath test.