Blitz on smoky trucks
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by Andrew Sangster • Hauliers caught running smoking trucks face a £60 fixed penalty fine from next year as part of the Government's clamp-down on air pollution.
Seven local authorities will be given powers to enforce emission standards, supporting the action already taken by the Vehicle Inspectorate.
The councils will have significantly less power than the VI but will be able to impose £60 fines on drivers of smoking trucks; rising to £90 if not paid within 28 days.
However, they will not be empowered to issue prohibitions.
A DOT spokesman says he expects the number of vehicles checked on the road to reach 250,000 a year: the VT currently inspects about 120,000 a year in roadside checks.
The seven authorities taking part are Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury, Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Swansea City and County and Westminster.
The resources devoted to the policing operation will vary from council to COUncil. Westminster, for example, has already indicated that it will mount almost constant checks.
• Between October 1996 and March 1997 there were 4,309 exhaust spot checks on LGVs with 162 prohibitions. For HGVs the figures were 7,928 checks with 158 prohibitions.