Two-skip driver rapped by vehicle agency for petrol station crunch

“A VERY poor effort by the driver.”

This was the verdict of a motoring regulator after a lorry carrying two stacked skips became jammed under a petrol station forecourt roof.

As a result of the mishap involving a Solent Skip Hire vehicle on Tuesday afternoon, the station by the Tesco Superstore, off Caird Avenue, New Milton, was forced to close. It was still out of action the following day while repairs to the damaged canopy continued.

The damning assessment of the incident was given by Mark Horton, enforcement policy manager at the DVSA (Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency) after he viewed a photograph of the aftermath.

“DVSA’s priority is protecting everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles,” he said.

“This vehicle has very clearly failed to comply with load security guidance by stacking two loaded skips. This is not allowed because the bottom skip will not provide a stable base for an additional skip.

“All vehicles with a travelling height above three metres require a height marker, and a driver should check for this as part of their daily walk round check so they can avoid low bridges and, in this case, petrol station forecourt roofs.

“All in all, a very poor effort by the driver.”

Mr Horton explained the authority was responsible for enforcing the construction and use (C&U) regulations for vehicles and trailers and all their parts and accessories, including loads.

These require that they should at all times be in such condition to ensure no danger is caused or is likely to be caused to anyone in or on the vehicle or trailer or on a road.

The DVSA’s load security guidance, which draws heavily from both the Department for Transport and EU codes of practice, includes a section on skips being carried on skip lorries.

Loaded or partly loaded skips should not be stacked on top of each other, it states, because the bottom skip will not provide a stable base for an additional skip.

“The loads within skips obviously vary, however it’s likely that whatever is in a skip will move/settle as a vehicle progresses on its journey, causing the additional skip, and its load, to move,” Mr Horton continued.

“The picture provided clearly illustrates the reason why DVSA does not allow stacking of laden skips.

“Not only is the load insecure (the lifting arm is not recommended to secure the skips as this can cause fatigue and damage which might not be visible), but the height of the load may well affect the vehicle’s stability particularly when going around corners etc.”

Questioned by the A&T about the circumstances of the incident, an employee at Totton-based Solent Skip Hire insisted the driver had done nothing wrong. She also claimed two skips could be stacked on top of each other as long as they were “not heavy-loaded”.

“He [the driver] wouldn’t have put anyone in danger,” the staff member said. “He knows he would have lost his licence otherwise.”

She also maintained the load was not unsafe as netting had been placed around it.

A Tesco spokesperson told the A&T on Wednesday: “The petrol station at our New Milton superstore is temporarily closed following an incident where an oversized vehicle damaged the forecourt canopy.

“We are working hard to reopen the petrol station as soon as possible and apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.”

The spokesperson added that although the lorry was able to be reversed unaided away from the forecourt canopy, the operation took just over an hour as the fuel pumps had to be disconnected as a safety precaution.

A photograph of the incident shared on Facebook provoked several comments of derision from users, some of whom also believed the lorry was dangerously loaded.

One posted: “I followed him up the A337. You can’t see from this picture but there are lengths of wood hanging over the top of his cab from the top skip!”

Another wrote: “Drove past our house like that! Looked very dangerous!”