Landscaper fined for overloaded van

LANDSCAPER Nikki Sparrow piled his pick-up with a tonne more than the legal load.Now he is paying the price for endangering other road users after being fined for over-loading his van with dry soil.

LANDSCAPER Nikki Sparrow piled his pick-up with a tonne more than the legal load.

Now he is paying the price for endangering other road users after being fined for over-loading his van with dry soil.

And brothers Ron and Andrew Dyer were also hit in the pocket after trading standards officers found they had crammed 4,200kg of crushed stone into their Ford Transit – 20 per cent above the legal limit.

Speaking after the cases at South-East Suffolk Magistrates Court, trading standards officer Steve Greenfield said: "The legal restrictions on how much your vehicle can take are there for a reason.

"Each van or lorry has a limit on what it is safe to carry, bot for the suspension of the van and for the safety of other road users.

"It's tempting for drivers to pile as much as they can in their vehicles, but it's not worth the risk to others and we feel an it's an accident waiting to happen on our roads and through our towns.

"These are not trivial offences and the weight by which these vehicles were overloaded works out to be the equivalent of around 23 and 16 bags of cement respectively – critical extra impact in the case of a road traffic accident."

Sparrow, 23, of Shafto Road, Ipswich, was fined £350 and ordered to pay £150 costs.

His pick-up was stopped en route from Trimley St Mary to Ipswich on October 10 last year.

Ron Dyer, 62, of Belstead Road, Ipswich, and Andrew Dyer, of Alan Road, Ipswich, were fined £200 each and both ordered to pay £150 costs.

Their Ford Transit was stopped near Tattingstone on October 25 last year.