Derbyshire ban threat
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• More than 30 Derbyshire hauliers operating in the Carsington area are under threat from a devastating lorry ban.
Next week Derbyshire County Council will publish a consultative document for a ban on all vehicles over 7.5 tonnes except for access to the town of Brassington.
Local residents object to tippers and tankers, mostly from the Longcliffe Quarry, which pass directly through the village.
Robert Shields is managing director of Longcliffe Quarries, which also operates 22 vehicles.
He says that a ban could force operators to make a detour of six miles. This would make the price of the product uncompetitive and sales of lime powder impracticable to some farms in the area.
Shields says that if the ban goes ahead his fleet of tippers and powder tankers, and the 30 subcontractors he uses regularly, will be unable to compete for work at other quarries because of the extra cost involved. "I dread to think about the potential cost," he says. "This is a very draconian law which can be passed without any recourse for compensation."