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lafT denies it is sitting on LHV report
Page 6
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THE DEPARTMENT for Transport (DfT) has denied that it already has the results of a study into longer, heavier vehicles (LHVs) and is trying to get the findings changed.
A report in The Times on Monday suggested that the government received the findings of the study, carried out by Heriot-Watt University and the Transport Research Laboratory, nine months ago. It added that the findings did not give the DfT a reason to refuse LHVs permission to run on the UK's roads, and that was why the government had delayed the report's release.
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has already admitted she would need a lot of persuasion to allow LHVs in the UK (Ruth Kelly yet to be persuaded about LHVs', CM24 April).
But a DfT spokesman insists this is not the case. 'The study was expected to have been completed by now, but given the complex nature of the project, researchers are still examining the evidence carefully.
"There are no plans to publish a response, but its findings will be considered carefully."
The DfT hopes to receive the report and make it available to Parliament before the summer recess.