The call comes following a spate of recent incidents that have seen heavy goods vehicles become wedged beneath low bridges or on narrow roads, disrupting other motorists and local communities.

 

“If a community is being plagued by problems at an accident blackspot, councils should be able to respond to their concerns by issuing fines to act as a deterrent,” said LGA transport spokesman Martin Tett.

 

“The vast majority of lorry drivers are reputable and drive responsibly,” he added. “These powers would be targeted at the minority who do not follow the law. This is also about protecting the drivers’ safety as well as the safety of residents and other road users.”

 

Recent cases in Leeds and Durham saw lorries become wedged underneath bridges while an HGV in Liverpool caused an hour of delays as it tried to turn around to avoid a low bridge. All restrictions, the LGA says, were clearly signed.

 

In Manchester, a driver got stuck by following a sat-nav down a road that was too small for the lorry, and in Frampton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire more than one driver has become wedged while delivering to the same building site.

 

The LGA says that, between 2011 and 2016, the number of fines for ‘neglect of traffic signs and directions and of pedestrian rights’ – which includes enforcement of weight and width restrictions – fell by 32%. This is despite the number of heavy goods lorries on the roads increasing by 356,000 since 2012.

 

The Association says allowing councils to issue fines to drivers would “bring peace and tranquillity back to some blighted communities and prevent costly delays to other road users and businesses”.

 

Councils already have such powers in Wales and in London. Money collected from the fines, adds the LGA, could be used towards tackling the nation’s pothole backlog.

Freight Transport Association head of UK policy Christopher Snelling said: “It is unfortunate that the LGA seeks to demonise the HGV industry in this fashion. Surely a reduced number of fines for ‘neglect of traffic signs and directions and of pedestrian rights’, while the number of HGVs is rising, is good news. This is probably because drivers are now using more up to date information and sat navs.

 

“The five incidents cited from the past 12 months hardly constitute bringing chaos to the nation’s villages and roads, especially when you consider that HGV drivers have to deliver five million tonnes of goods every day to keep Britain supplied.” He added that those breaking laws in relation to road usage should be dealt with appropriately, but said there us little evidence to show that lack of enforcement powers is the problem, instead suggesting measures to make signage more reliable and effective.”

A spokesman for the Road Haulage Association said the group is fully supportive of any measures that reduce congestion. However the majority hauliers cannot afford to be unaware of height, width or weight restrictions.

The Association, said the spokesman, would therefore be interested to establish how many accidents occur due to foreign drivers being unable to understand warning signage. Perhaps investment in multi-lingual signage would help reduce accidents, it suggested.