Observer corps deter thieves
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THERE were encouraging signs in London that the existence of a vehicle observer corps made criminals more reluctant to adopt their usual practice, by which they stole a loaded vehicle and transferred the contents to another vehicle a short distance away, thus completely obliterating the trail.
This was stated by Mr. A. R. Butt, chairman of the Road Haulage Association, at Birmingham sub-area annual dinner last week.
Criminals were a resourceful lot, went on Mr. Butt, and other methods—notably hi-jacking—apart from "lorry dragging" were being used. "Our efforts therefore must now be turned in other directions and there are certainly methods for making the lot of the hi-jacker an unhappy one.
Mr. Butt said it was a scandal that in Birmingham there was not a single guarded lorry park where members from out of town could be confident that their loads were safe.
A little enlightened thinking by local councils in granting permission to operators to develop space for commercial garages and parking would help a lot.