Scotch Corner risks
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by Lee Kimber • Selfish truckers are risking drivers' lives by blocking laybys at Scotch Corner, say police, who fear that a parking ticket clampdown will not stop the problem.
Officers at North Yorkshire police's traffic unit say drivers are being tempted to exceed their hours limits because overnighters are hogging the area's laybys. They warn that up to 30 trucks block the free laybys at Sedbury overnight while nearby truck parks at Barton, Leeming, Londonderry and Quernhow still have spaces.
"One haulier had it as his operating centre," says PC Brian Rogers.
Last month police issued dozens of £20 parking tickets to drivers who broke the two-hour layby parking limit after a driver looking for a 45-minute stop complained there was no space. Their action prompted angry drivers to bundle their tickets together and send them back in protest.
"It's like shovelling water uphill," says acting chief inspector Malcolm Brass. "From time to time we have a blitz but it creeps back up again."
The two-hour limit was imposed to give drivers heading to or from the notorious A66 a chance to get a 45-minute break. But it has proved difficult to police because of the manpower needed and the number of trucks using the laybys.