Driver rules relaxed to tackle animal backlog
3 Oct 07
Truckers can spend more time on the roads to transport animals following foot-and-mouth crisis
Drivers will be allowed extra hours on the roads to tackle the backlog of animals needing moved, following the foot and mouth crisis.
Scottish ministers asked the UK Government to relax the EU rules governing how long drivers can spend at the wheel. For a month, the daily driving limit will be 10 hours instead of nine and the weekly rest period will be 24 hours instead of 45. The limit of 56 and 90 hours for weekly and fortnightly driving times will also be lifted.
The changes, approved by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, will come into effect later this week when livestock movements are eased. They will apply to those transporting cattle, pigs, sheep and lambs across Britain in areas outside the foot-and-mouth risk areas.
Scottish ministers had warned that without relaxing the rules, thousands of sheep could have starved to death.
Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said he was grateful that the UK government had recognised that the foot-and-mouth crisis was not a short-term local problem.
The chief executive of the National Farmers Union in Scotland, Andy Robertson, said it should not have taken the UK Government as long as it did to address the issue.