The region’s Commercial Vehicle Units joined together earlier this month as part of Operation Chemical, focusing on the carriage of dangerous goods (CDG).

The operation took place over four days between Tuesday 7 May and Friday 10 May and was led by the CGD Practitioners Forum, who work to ensure the safe transportation of any goods that are deemed dangerous. This includes items that are toxic, corrosive, radioactive, flammable and explosive.

The police Commercial Vehicle Units from Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex – assisted by the BCH (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire) Road Policing Unit – participated at different check sites each day as follows: the A11 near Thetford; the A14 near Bury St Edmunds; the M11 near Harlow; and the A1(M) near Sawtry.

Across the four days a total of 86 vehicles were checked, comprising 60 HGVs, 24 LGVs (light goods vehicles) and two cars.

Of these, 41 were CDG vehicles: 20 were found to be all in order, but 16 were issued with warnings or advisory notices; four were issued with fixed penalty notices; and one required further enquiries regarding radioactive shipment.

48 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) were issued as follows:

In respect of the HGVs, 14 TORs were issued: 10 for driver hours; two for an insecure load; one for mechanical fault; and one for not having an HGV licence.

32 TORs were issued in respect of the LGVs: 12 for being overweight; eight for insecure loads; eight for not wearing a seatbelt; and four for construction & use (road worthiness).

Two TORs for driving whilst using a mobile phone were issued to the car drivers.

PC Terry Harvey, from Suffolk Police’s Commercial Vehicle Unit, said: “This was an excellent four days of regional cooperation working with our colleagues from neighbouring police forces.

“I cannot stress how important it is to ensure dangerous goods are being transported in a safe and legal manner. The potential for serious harm to be caused if they are not means there is a real necessity for us to carry-out operations such as this.

“I want to thank all our regional colleagues for participating and particular thanks goes the BCH Road Policing Unit, whose police bikes were used each day for stopping the vehicles.”

Tim Passmore, Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, said: “Keeping our roads safe and the traffic moving, is vital for both residents and businesses in the county.

“The A14 is a significant national gateway to the Port of Felixstowe and we have a huge amount of local and international commercial traffic working its way across the county which needs to be monitored for dangerous vehicles and driver offences.

“Since its creation from the council tax precept investment, the Commercial Vehicle Unit has had some excellent outcomes and these results shows just how valuable the team is.