Truck check toll URTU backs moves to save truckstops
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• Truck drivers are set to protest against a ban on roadside mobile catering units by parking up in busy town centres to find a meal.
They are being supported by Tony Southam, a United Road Transport Union regional officer. Southam says if the units are removed from an 8km stretch on the A34 between Bicester and Oxford, he will list town centre cafes in the union's magazine, Wheels.
Cherwell District Council believes that the new Granada motorway services area on J10 of the M40 at Cherwell Valley replaces the need for the mobile catering units.
Area planning officer Robert Duxbury says: "There have been a number of complaints about the amount of litter the units create, the vermin they attract and people going to the toilet where there is no toilet. This has left us with the intention to clear the units away." However Southam claims the drivers cannot afford to use the M40 services. He is encouraging drivers to sign a petition when they pass the A34 mobile traders. Granada Hospitality says that if drivers buy fuel at Cherwell Valley they can get discount vouchers for food. The council's environmental committee will not make its final decision on the catering units until Wednesday (27 July).
Truck drivers can write to the council via Peter Rooke, the chief administration officer, Bodicote House, Bodicote, Banbury, Oxfordshire.