§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that the records of lorry weighings which it is proposed to undertake under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Bill[Lords] also be used as a basis upon which the law relating to the overloading of lorries on the highway is enforced.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[holding answer 3 March 1988]: The Department's consultative document No. 7, issued on 23 December 1987, proposed the individual weighing of all lorries before loading on to class II and II(A) ro-ro passenger ferries. This will be for the purpose of ferry loading and safety and will apply only to lorries joining outbound ferries. To enforce the lorry weight limits using this information it would be necessary to prove retrospectively in a court of law that a vehicle which had entered a port to join a ferry had travelled on the highway in an overloaded condition. Inbound vehicles checked at ferry ports and found to be overweight are prohibited from leaving until the overload is adjusted.