DRIVERS of overloaded vehicles in Solihull have been fined by Birmingham magistrates.
Solihull trading standards officers pulled over the drivers of overweight lorries at the NEC in July.
They said a vehicle being driven on behalf of Cambridge-based company 51 Parcels Ltd was heavily loaded and driving dangerously. When officers pulled the vehicle over and checked it out, the vehicle was overloaded by 660kg (18.9 per cent over its burden limit).
The company pleaded guilty at a prior hearing and on February 17 was fined £1,189 plus £200 costs and a £100 victim surcharge – totalling £1,489.
The second prosecution was against Akbar Ayub and MSA Group UK Ltd, who was caught at the same multi-agency exercise driving a vehicle that was eight per cent overloaded.
This was the second time the same vehicle had been caught overloaded. Therefore both Mr Ayub and the company employing him, MSA Group UK Ltd, were both penalised, Solihull council added.
Both parties pleaded guilty and at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on February 18 Mr Ayub was fined £156 plus £100 in costs and a £32 victim surcharge – totalling £288. The company he worked for was fined £1,000 plus £200 in costs and a £100 victim surcharge – totalling £1,400.
Councillor Karen Grinsell, deputy leader of Solihull Council, said: “Overloading vehicles is highly dangerous to other road users. We hope that these results send a strong message that we will not tolerate this practice in the borough and will seek to prosecute offenders where we can.”
