French stall on payments
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• The French Government is coming under further attacks for backtracking on promises to pay British hauliers speedy compensation after last November's blockades.
Now the Freight Transport Association, which was previously upbeat about the Department of Transport's "fast-track" compensation deal with the French, says the agreement is being broken.
Three months after the blockade, the FTA says legitimate claims for thousands of pounds remain unpaid and it is up to the Department of Transport to put pressure on France to keep its word and pay up.
Claims processed by the FTA
have been lorwarded by the DOT to the various French Prefectures (regions).
But many are being returned with requests for more information, much of it in direct contravention of last December's agreement.
The FTA and the Road Haulage Association decided against joining their Irish, Dutch and Belgian counterparts in a combined claim.
A spokesman for the legal firm Ford & Warren, which is co-ordinating the Irish Road Haulage Association's compensation claim, says it will sue the French Government directly if hauliers' claims are not met within a certain time.