§ Mr. Warrenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the locations of weighing facilities for checking goods vehicles entering Kent and Sussex ports from the Continent.
§ Mr. MarksThere are weighing facilities at the ports of Sheerness, Dover, Folkestone and Newhaven. Weighing facilities are also used to check port traffic at inland sites adjacent to the A2 at Canterbury, the A20 at Folkstone and the A27 at Beddingham near Lewes. Additional facilities are being installed in the port of Sheerness and on the A2 at Barham.
§ Mr. Warrenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many goods vehicles entering Kent and Sussex ports from the Continent over the last 12 months have been weighed at official stations; what percentage of the total entering through these ports this represents; and how many of those weighed were found to exceed United Kingdom regulations.
§ Mr. MarksDuring the calendar year 1975 the Department's examiners weighed 5,813 goods vehicles entering the country through the Kent and Sussex ports. 571 were prohibited for serious infringement of United Kingdom weights limits. Weight checks, on a substantial scale, are also carried out by local authority consumer protection officers and the police. Precise statistics of incoming goods vehicles are not available, but overall checks are estimated broadly to cover 10–15 per cent.