Crack Down on HGVs

 HGV Crackdown in Hopwas

Calls from residents to crack down on HGVs flouting a 7.5 ton weight restriction through a village between Lichfield and Tamworth have been answered with a joint police and County Council enforcement operation.

Villagers in Hopwas have been outraged by a steady stream of heavy lorries ignoring the weight restriction rather than driving the extra two miles along the prescribed safer HGV route.

Matthew Ellis, the area’s County Councillor said,

“I’ve had numerous calls from local people who are concerned at the increasing number of HGVs travelling through the weight restriction zone in Hopwas Village. It has become so bad that some people have been noting when and what type of vehicles appear to be breaking the law”.

Evidence collected by local people suggests that up to 20 lorries each day are choosing to ignore the restrictions, taking the shorter route through Hopwas, between the industrial estate in Tamworth and the A5 or A38.

One local resident said,

“I’m staggered at the number of heavy vehicles that appear to be unaware of the weight restriction or just decide to ignore it. There is a pedestrian crossing near to the school at the bottom end of Hopwas and the closeness of the crossing to the hump back bridge means that there is every likelihood of an HGV finding it difficult to stop in time if there are pedestrians using the crossing”.

Firm action has also been taken by Network Rail recently. In the past few weeks lorries carrying spoil from the West Coast Main Line track improvements have also been spotted breaking the weight restrictions and reported to the company. After investigations sub-contractors, found to be responsible, have been sacked.

Rachel Cowlishaw from Network Rail explained,

“We take this issue very seriously indeed. An important consideration whilst carrying out the track improvements has been to make sure that any impact on local communities is kept to a minimum. If anyone or any company that works for Network Rail is found to be breaking the law we will take the appropriate action”.

The joint enforcement operation, which took place last week (23rd) from 8.30am until late morning, saw more than a dozen heavy vehicles stopped by police. As well as appropriate enforcement action, drivers were questioned as to why they were passing through the restricted area and cautioned against doing so again.

Matthew Ellis added,

“I’m delighted that the County Council and Staffordshire Police responded so quickly to my request for enforcement action. The road through Hopwas was given a weight restriction by the County for good reason. I would expect professional HGV drivers to abide by the law and if they don’t they will be prosecuted”.

As well as HGV enforcement, police also targeted vehicles exceeding the 30mph speed limit. It is planned to repeat the enforcement exercise again in the future.