Kent tops check stops Gables meeting
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by Miles Brignall • Police in Kent cancel twice as many roadside checks carried out by the Vehicle Inspectorate than any other police force in the country, new figures reveal.
Of the 2,113 road checks due to be carried out since October last year, 62 (almost 3%) of checks were cancelled because forces in England and Wales decided there were not sufficient resources available to allow them to man the checks.
Kent Police was the worst offender cancelling 14 checks, while Thames Valley was the second highest with seven cancellations over the six months to the end of March this year. Only the police are allowed to stop vehicles—if they fail to turn up, checks have to be cancelled.
Kent is seen as strategically important because large numbers of commercial vehicles travelling to the Channel crossings.
The information, revealed in a Parliamentary written answer by Vehicle Inspectorate chief executive Ron Oliver, shows large numbers of checks are being cancelled in the area which has one of the highest concentrations of vehicles.
It also follows a decision by Kent Police two years ago to end all vehicle weighings, which at the time were not felt to be a good use of resources.
The Transport Select Committee, currently investigating the effectiveness of truck enforcement, is expected to call for police authorities to give greater support to roadside checks as well as devoting more resources to the training of officers in truck enforcement issues.