French finally agree to pay Iamb war cash
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• The French Government has agreed to compensate in full eight British hauliers whose vehicles and cargoes were damaged by French farmers demonstrating against meat imports during last year's 'lamb wars'.
The incidents, in which lamb carcasses were spray painted and trucks attacked (CM 18 October) took place between July and December 1986.
After months of negotiations with the British embassy in Paris, the French Apiculture Minister, Francois Guillaume — who has been extremely reluctant to agree to any compensation payments in the past — has agreed to settle these particular UK operators' claims. They range from £690 to 250,000 and result from physical damage to the trucks and loads, inconvenience and commercial losses.
Somerset-based Central Road Transport, one of the haulage firms involved in last October's attacks, had an attic unit hi-jacked outside an abattoir in Lyons. In the incident 466 lamb carcasses were rolled in gravel, spray painted and subsequently declared unfit for human consumption. The CRT truck also had paint sprayed on it by protestors. The company's claim for 222,000 was made directly after the hi-jack via the Departement de Rhone (the Lyons local authority) in accordance with British embassy instructions, but despite French President Francois Mitterand's firm undertaking to pay for the damages, CRT's joint managing director, Frank Chown, is still waiting.
"I have explored every single avenue I can think of," says Chown, "short of writing to Margaret Thatcher herself. CRT is not a big company and the incidents have caused quite a cash flow problem. It could have completely finished someone working closer to the margin. I'll believe in this compensation when I have the cheque in my hand."