Over 30 Offences Detected in Multi-agency Road Safety Operation

A multi-agency operation focussing on road safety resulted in over 30 offences being detected at Teesport on Tuesday 26^th November.

A total of 27 vehicles were checked; with 16 of them carrying dangerous vehicles and another eleven non dangerous goods vehicles. All eleven non-dangerous goods vehicles inspected were found to have issues; which included underinflated tyres, lighting defects, brake defects and an insecure load. 

Colleagues from partner agencies including regional police forces from Northumbria, Durham and North Yorkshire, along with Immigration Enforcement, the Environment Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). Specialist officers from the Department for Transport and National Chemical Emergency Centre (NCEC) were also present. 

Six dangerous goods vehicles were found to be all in order, whilst the other 21 vehicles were found with 32 various defects including tyres with exposed cord, a bent steering arm which required immediate work to fix, a number of breaches of drivers’ hours, fines issued for insecure loads and overweight vehicles.

Sergeant Mark Kewley said: “Drivers should be carrying out regular checks on their vehicles. This is vitally important to keep themselves and others safe on our roads. Each driver can be held responsible for the defects on their vehicle, whether it’s a company vehicle or not. 

“Operations like this demonstrate the need for police and partners to come together to check the safety of the vehicles in use and ensure that they are roadworthy.”