Tractor driver banned for hauling JCB digger through Northamptonshire village on trailer with TEN potentially deadly defects

Court hears load was four times over weight limit, seven out of 12 tyres had little or no tread, two were completely flat
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Shocked police found a tractor driver hauling a JCB digger through a Northamptonshire village on a trailer with TEN potentially deadly defects.

In addition to being more than four times over the weight limit:

■ Seven of the trailer’s 12 tyres had little or no tread

Police found ten potentially deadly defects on the trailer loaded with a JCB digger — now the tractor driver is serving a year ban after appearing at Northampton Magistrates' Court. Photo: Northamptonshire PolicePolice found ten potentially deadly defects on the trailer loaded with a JCB digger — now the tractor driver is serving a year ban after appearing at Northampton Magistrates' Court. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
Police found ten potentially deadly defects on the trailer loaded with a JCB digger — now the tractor driver is serving a year ban after appearing at Northampton Magistrates' Court. Photo: Northamptonshire Police

■ One was worn through to the cords and two completely flat

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■ The trailer’s handbrake and nearside indicator did not work

■ Suspension on one side was broken

■ The digger’s bucket was not secured to the trailer bed

The driver of the New Holland tractor that was pulling the load on the A428 at Crick, 22-year-old Edward Greenaway, was ordered to pay a total of £523 in fines, prosecution costs and a victim surcharge banned for a year after admitting driving dangerously at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on April 22.

PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke, of Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads Team, said: “This vehicle should never have been driven on the road.

"Its dangerous condition would have been obvious to Greenaway.

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“To hold a driving licence is a privilege and a responsibility, so it is disappointing that Greenaway was not only willing to jeopardise his own livelihood but, more importantly, willing to put the safety of others at risk.

“We would urge anyone, particularly those working in the farming community, to ensure they check and maintain all vehicles and machinery to make sure they remain in a roadworthy condition before using them on the roads.

“We would also ask all drivers carrying heavy loads to ensure they are secured before setting off and to check at regular intervals to see that they remain secure during the journey.”

Greenaway, of Rugby Road, Crick, was stopped by police on October 19 last year as he hauled the digger through the village, which has a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes.

The tractor and trailer were taken to the nearby DVSA weighbridge where it was inspected and found to be a combined weight of 33 tonnes.