§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether(a) his Department, (b) Gwent county council, (c) the Department of Transport, (d) the Welsh Office 104W and (e) the local press were informed of the fire that took place on 30 January on a lorry loaded with ammunition in the Newport, West constituency.
§ Mr. FreemanThe fire was reported to the Ministry of Defence through the appropriate channels. However, the incident was a minor one and the ammunition load was at no time in any danger, so the other bodies were not informed.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all occasions in the past 10 years when lorries loaded with ammunition were involved in collisions or major mechanical breakdowns.
§ Mr. FreemanStatistics on the number of vehicles loaded with ammunition in collisions or major mechanical breakdowns are not held centrally for years prior to 1982 and details could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The occasions since 1 January 1982 are as follows:
13 December 1982, 11 January 1983, 11 December 1983, 3 December 1984, 13 May 1985, 3 December 1986, 22 July 1986, 27 April 1988.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the occasions in the past 10 years when lorries loaded with ammunition caught fire on motorways and other roads.
§ Mr. FreemanStatistics on the number of vehicles loaded with ammunition which caught fire are not held centrally for years prior to 1982 and details could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The occasions since 1 January 1982 are as follows:
24 October 1984, 1 May 1986, 30 January 1988.