Vosa is to include the additional checks it made in the South-East as part of the South East International Pilot into its everyday role across the country. This means Vosa will target vehicles on international journeys across the country, rather than just in the South-East. A Vosa spokesman says: "Checks are being conducted at ports around the country, with the main concentration being in the South-East and North-West.
Checks are also being carried out at inland sites."
There will be a 24-hour, seven-day a week shift system to cover Eurotunnel, Dover and Ramsgate and similar systems are likely to be introduced at other ports around the UK. Vosa will distribute multi-lingual leaflets and posters aimed at LGV drivers that will be displayed at ports in the UK and on the Continent as well as on ferries and Eurotunnel terminals.
Geoff Dossetter, external affairs director at the Freight Transport Association, says he welcomes Vosa's intention to extend the checks on international vehicles to cover the whole country, but adds: "I'm slightly concerned that if the special funding that was allocated [to the South East International Pilot] is subsumed into the overall Vosa budget then the focus on checking these vehicles will become blurred."
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