Overloading
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IN I note with interest your articles (CM 15-21 Aug, 19-25 Sept) which suggest that Trading Standards departments bring frivolous prosecutions and that there should be more provision for hauliers to weigh vehicles.
The 19 Sept edition shows a picture of this department's public weighbridge which is situated adjacent to the Al(M) at Hatfield. It was originally conceived as an enforcement site, but in the spirit of aiding business and the prevention of overloading, the site is open for anyone to weigh vehicles for a modest fee.
Despite its highly visible location and our attempts to inform local hauliers of its presence, we have not been inundated with vehicles wishing to check weigh, and I wonder if this is what hauliers really want.
Finally, hauliers who are found to be overloaded in Hertfordshire are not brought before magistrates for "trivial" amounts.
Ian McLachlan, Deputy director, Trading Standards, Hertfordshire County Council, Hertford.