£420 for lack of 'vignette'
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A Gloucester-based owner-driver has been fined £420 at the German/Danish border for failing to display a "vignette" or motorway toll certificate costing just £5.
Karl SkiIton was forced to pay the fine as he tried to enter Denmark at Flensburg on 20 April. Despite claiming he was already at the border and had no opportunity to buy the certificate, he was still forced to pass over the cash. Skilton, who hauls all over Europe, says he was unaware he needed the certificate to enter Denmark but was staggered at the size of the fine in relation to the cost of the toll.
So far in Germany and the Benelux countries warnings have often replaced fines. Hauliers have complained the certificates have not been available for the tolls, introduced at the start of the year. A spokeswoman for the Road Haulage Association says this is the first instance she has heard of a haulier being fined in Denmark. "The certificates have been difficult to get in Belgium and the authorities so far have only been issuing warnings as a result," she says.