Trucker skips safety measures and handed £800 fine

The driver of an HGV carrying three skips stacked on top of each other, has been handed more than £800 in fines by police.

Wiltshire constabulary received a call from a member of the public who had seen the HGV travelling between junction 18 and 17 of the M4 on 18 December, with what they thought was a very insecure load. Officers located the vehicle, which had three skips loaded on top of each other, at Leigh Delamere services. The vehicle was also found to have torn straps, the wrong type of hooks and the body of the skips were rusted around the hooks as well.

The DVSA later discovered that the 52-year-old driver had no driver card, the vehicle had no MOT, and the condition of the load was deemed to be dangerous. As well as the fines, he was handed a notice telling him to have his tacho calibrated and the vehicle was also seized.

Sergeant Will Ayres, from Wiltshire Police’s roads policing unit, said: “Thanks to this eagle-eyed member of the public we were able to quickly locate the vehicle and the driver and carry out the necessary checks. It is clear that this situation posed a real risk to other road users and we are just grateful that we were able to intervene before serious harm was caused. Anyone who drives these types of vehicles has a duty to ensure their load is roadworthy and there are strict rules they need to be following to ensure they are operating in a safe way.”