§ Mr. Speedasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many heavy goods vehicles passed through Kentish ports to and from the continent, respectively, in 1983; how many were check-weighed; what proportion were overweight; and how many were subsequently prohibited from travelling further or prosecuted in court.
§ Mrs. ChalkerFigures for the numbers of goods vehicles which entered the country through the Kentish ports in 1983 are not yet available. The figure for 1982 was 341,000, including trailers.
In 1983, the Department's traffic examiners checked 9,339 vehicles at Kentish ports, of which 5,258 were weighed and 1,096 were found to be overloaded and were prohibited from moving further until the excess load had been re-distributed or removed.
Prohibited vehicles are reported to the licensing authority to enable action to be taken against the operator, 274W and in the case of foreign vehicles, a written report is sent to the Government concerned to enable them to take disciplinary action.