VEHICLES transporting waste in South Gloucestershire have been the focus of a stop-check operation by the council and police last week.

The operation, which has been carried out by the South Gloucestershire Council enviro-crime team and Avon and Somerset Police, targeted the A38 near Thornbury and the A4174 Bristol ring road, to ensure vehicles carrying waste were taking appropriate steps to keep their cargo secure.

Over the course of the week, 65 vehicles, ranging from flatbed trucks to bulk waste freight containers, were stopped and inspected for potential offences.

While, most drivers were given verbal advice, six operators are being provided with more formal written advice, and officers are investigating one case further.

Another vehicle was seized by police due to its dangerous condition.

Robert Walsh, head of South Gloucestershire Council’s safe strong communities group, said: “There was a clear improvement in the way waste is being carried on our roads since the last time we carried out an operation similar to this one.

“Publicity of previous operations and the hefty fines imposed as a result of our successful prosecutions appears to have had a positive effect.

“We also sent out advice and information on responsibilities to all registered waste operators in the area, and those from neighbouring authorities known to travel through the area, prior to the operation and that seems to have been very worthwhile.”

The council is one of the only authorities in the country to have successfully prosecuted companies under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for failing to take reasonable steps to ensure waste is transported legally.

Cllr Heather Goddard, chairman of the council’s environment and community services committee, said: “We spend tens of thousands of pounds each year cleaning up litter from roadside verges, which is a burden to our council tax payers as they bear the brunt of these costs.

“We also have to close off parts of this busy road at certain times of the year in order to carry out the clean-up operation safely, which can lead to major disruption for motorists so I am pleased to see our warnings are being heeded.”