Night-time lorry curfew proposed

Lorries are facing a night-time ban from minor roads in the Cotswolds, as part of a plan to improve the quality of life for residents.

Gloucestershire County Council is to pilot the curfew in a small area of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) later this year.

There will also be a 7.5t weight restriction on all unclassified and 'C' class roads and some 'B' class roads.

But some freight transport users fear it will worsen traffic congestion.

Everything we wear, eat and use, at some point, goes on the back of a heavy goods vehicle Ken Hackling

Stephen Kelly from the Freight Transport Association said: "These proposals are utterly ridiculous.

"The net effect of these proposals will be an increase in traffic on those already heavily over-used routes not only during the daytime, but also during the night-time as more lorries are forced onto fewer roads."

But the council says the aim is to focus "through" lorry traffic onto appropriate routes.

It wants to cut "rat-running" through residential areas, villages and towns.

Ken Hackling, managing director of Hacklings Transport in Bourton-on-the-Water, said his storage and distribution business would be seriously affected by the restrictions.

"Everything we wear, eat and use, at some point, goes on the back of a heavy goods vehicle," he said.

"So the council needs to be aware of the economics when they make these decisions."