Police crackdown on vehicles carrying ‘dangerous goods’ on A12 and A14

Two men were arrested on suspicion of drug driving during a crackdown on lorries and vehicles suspected of transporting dangerous goods at Ipswich’s Copdock Interchange.

Suffolk police teamed up with the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency and HM Revenue and Customs for the day of action on Monday.

They were working to enforce legislation around carrying dangerous goods (CDG) such as clinical waste, which has the potential to be used by terrorist organisations to produce explosives.

Officers from the roads and armed policing team stopped 34 vehicles and discovered 27 were carrying hazardous materials from their base at the Tesco truck stop site.

Sgt Julian Ditcham said: “The purpose of this operation was to both enforce the legislation relevant to vehicles carrying dangerous goods and to raise awareness of how vitally important it is that the law is adhered to.

“Transporting material which is either itself explosive, or has the potential to be used in creating an explosive device, is by its very nature a hazardous process, and so it is disappointing that 27 of the 34 vehicles we brought back to the check site were found to have been committing offences.

“This demonstrates the importance of the operation, which is one of many roads and armed policing days of action we hold regularly throughout the year, helping to make our roads safer for all users.”

Two men were arrested on suspicion of drug driving in connection with the operation.

Four traffic notices were issued for people not wearing seatbelts while two were given out for drivers using mobile phones at the wheel.

Three vehicles were found to be in a dangerous condition, and six people were breathalysed but samples came back negative.