§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many weighbridges have been set up in the United Kingdom; how many lorries were checked in 1987; how many were overweight; how many of these lorries were over 38 tonnes; and what was the average fine.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Department of Transport has so far a network of 63 weighbridges. A total of 126,000 lorries were weighed in 1987–88, by the Department's traffic examiners and local authority trading standards Departments. Of these 28,500 were found to be overloaded, 5,700 of them over 38 tonnes. The average fine imposed by the courts for overloading found by the Department's traffic examiners was £156.