National milk delivery firms that overloaded dangerous vans and tried to circumvent O-licensing laws have been hit with huge fines.
In a DVSA-led operation, three operators and 25 drivers were found guilty of overloading, driving defective vehicles, and driving vehicles that had been banned from being used.
One van was found to be 2 tonnes overweight, while roadworthiness issues included defective brakes, bald tyres, broken springs and damaged body panelling.
Some vehicles that had attracted immediate prohibitions had previously been issued with prohibitions and so were being used with known defects.
The DVSA commenced a targeted operation in December 2022 over nine days at various sites across the country.
Nearly all the vehicles stopped were either overloaded or overloaded with a mechanical defect.
The DVSA said that due to the weight of milk, smaller refrigerated vehicles were generally considered unsuitable and that the goods should be transported by HGV.
Starling Distribution Services has now been ordered to pay £205,660, made up of £142,160 in fines, costs of £31,900 and victim surcharges of £31,600.
Freshways was ordered to pay £54,179 and Medina Capital Dairy Company was ordered to pay an overall total of £15,300.
One of the drivers caught by the enforcement agency, Vinaykumar Jashbai Patel, a director of Starling Distribution Services, was fined £2,098.
Others were issued with smaller fines and points on their licences.
