One in six vehicles stopped in blitz had mechanical problems (From This Is Wiltshire)

One in six vehicles stopped in blitz had mechanical problems

7:30am Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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A lorry being driven by a banned driver was among the offences uncovered during a three-day enforcement blitz carried out at the Granada services near Warminster.

Wiltshire Police and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) carried out checks on about 50 vehicles during the campaign, which ran from Thursday to Saturday at the service station at the junction of the A350 and A36.

Senior investigation officer at VOSA, Richard Hone, said about one in four vehicles were being driven by drivers who had exceeded the statutory driving time regulations, while one in six were issued with mechanical prohibition notices, for problems with brakes, suspension, tyres and steering.

One man stopped, who was driving a lorry carrying one scrap car and towing another, was found to have been banned from driving in 2004. He claimed he didn’t know he had been banned.

Mr Hone added: “We also had one driver who had been driving too long and had to stay overnight at Granada services. He was a Lithuanian man driving a lorry from Belgium.

“A number of fixed penalties were issued, which is a standard £200 at the side of the road.

“A prohibition notice is a punishment in itself as to get it removed the vehicle, and its usually a heavy goods vehicle, has to go through a full MOT.

“From one point of view, the results were very disappointing.”