1147 truckstop boss is offered DOT payment
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• Government officials are considering paying compensation to a truckstop owner whose roadside cafe business is being ruined by a Department of Transport decision to shut a layby in Cambridgeshire.
Peter Hawes, 49, has welded himself inside the truckstop in protest. And his actions have led to a meeting between roads minister Kenneth Carlisle and local Tory MP Henry Bellingham to discuss the situation.
But Mr Hawes and his wife Jenny are determined to secure another site from the DOT "We're not interested in compensation. We want somewhere else to put our cafe", says Mrs Hawes The couple's fight is being backed by the Transport & General Workers Union and local truckers.
Drivers maintain a go-slow and toot their horns in support as they pass the Guyhirn lay-by on the A47.
The DOT spokesman says : "I'm sure we'll find the doors of this place open pretty quickly if the talk of a few grand compensation filters through."