Test case for stowaway fines
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Peter Cook Transport is appealing against fines for stowaways found in one of its trucks last week just weeks after it sat on a Road Haulage Association committee to discuss the problem of illegal immigrants.
The Durham-based haulier is understood to be taking the matter to court and hopes to mount a test case which will help hauliers who face similar fines.
Another haulier faces fines of £106,000 after 53 Chinese illegal immigrants were said to have been found in one truck.
But Dover-based EJ Bywater escaped fines last week after half a dozen immigrants climbed out of one of his trucks in Camberley, Surrey. John Bywater says his drivers are increasingly afraid of entering certain areas around Calais where the immigrants gather. "It's getting absolutely terrifying in some fuel stops." he reports. "Some of the immigrants are carrying weapons now and the police don't seem to be doing anything about it."
• Cheltenham haulier MLC 7ransport has resorted to fitting baby alarms to its vehicles to allow drivers to listen in to their trailers from their cabs and detect any stowaways.