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Unite calls for better overnight security...

6th August 2009, Page 14
6th August 2009
Page 14
Page 14, 6th August 2009 — Unite calls for better overnight security...
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THE UK's biggest trade union is demanding better security at overnight truckstops because so many drivers are being robbed.

Unite has labelled the 21st century version of highway robbers 'motorway pirates' and says thefts from trucks have risen 63% in the past year, citing a survey carried out by the website Truckersw-orld.

The union is demanding a total overhaul of the truckstop network to provide decent and safe facilities where drivers can sleep peacefully and securely. It says most attacks appear to take place while drivers are asleep in their cabs.

Incidents this year include one in March when driver Michael Osborne was stunned with a Taser gun. then dumped by the side of the road as his truck and load were stolen from outside a Birmingham industrial estate.

In January a Lithuanian driver was attacked at 4.30am while he was parked up for a sleep in Walsall. His 25-tonne load of copper was stolen.

Walsall was also the site of an attack last summer when robbers posed as policemen to flag down a truck on the NH, then kidnapped the driver and stole his vehicle. The driver was driven to another road and left tied to a metal gate.

Len McCluskey. Unite assistant general secretary, says: "We're fighting to make our roads safer for professional drivers, but the government and the industry must lead here to provide secure parking and overnight accommodation and stop, once and for all, the motorway pirates who prey on truck drivers."

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People: Michael Osborne
Locations: Birmingham

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