Seventeen fishing boats ran aground on Britain and France, but the London government also sent two warships to the Channel at dawn on Thursday.
The conflict has been exacerbated by two interpretations of the Brexit rules. Since Britain left the EU, there have been a number of complex methods for calculating where and to what extent European fishermen have access to the British Ocean. Although fisheries provide a very small part of the economies of the countries concerned, they also play a key political role in France, Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom, along with their strong unions, spectacular demonstrations and symbolic industries.
One of the ships sent by the British to the scene was the HMS Severn.Photo: GLYN KIRK / AFP
Now the heated debate began with the management of the island of Jersey in the Channel, which is owned by Britain, but is closer to the French coast one by one, and which French fishing vessel has the right to fish off the island again this year? .
In order to obtain a license, French ships had to prove that they had a “historic right” to fish – their vessel had been fishing for at least ten days in a 12-month period over the past three years. Anyone who proves this will be given a beacon identification system to place on fishing vessels longer than 12 meters, after which the British will leave them alone.
Of the applicants, 41 vessels were licensed in the current season, but 17 vessels were rejected. According to Jersey officials, exactly, according to French fishermen, unfair.
Port of St. Helier, Jersey.Photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP
Since then, the situation has escalated:
French fishermen announced on Thursday that they would be marching a hundred boats from the port of Jersey in front of St. Helier.
The Jersey leadership fears the march will be a siege and fishermen want to isolate the island from the outside world, so the island’s prime minister, John Le Fondre, has warned the London government.
Aid arrived immediately, two small warships were sent to the island, and HMS. Severn and HMS Tamar has been guarding the Jersey coast since Thursday.
The French government’s Minister of Maritime Affairs also got into the debate: Annie Gordin said the island would be without electricity if Jersey fishermen were treated unfairly. They can do this because they get electricity from France via three submarine cables from Jersey.
In response, a local oil mill was placed on standby on the island of Jersey so that electricity would be available even if the French closed them down. It will be more expensive and polluting than the current system, but it will not darken the island, local leaders promise.
A new recycling system in parts of the South Hams has ran into “teething problems” after repeated missed collections in “harder to reach” areas.
Recycling contractor FCC Environment is now “working hard” to collect bins that have been missed, after its lorries were unable to fit down narrow lanes.
Cllr Keith Baldry, South Hams District Council’s[1] lead member for waste and recycling explained that the new routes were driven to test that each vehicle was allocated correctly, but “as with any new service there are some exceptions that are not identified in advance”.
As a result, FCC is now re-allocating these routes to the appropriate sized vehicle “as soon as possible”.
The contractor is prioritising properties which have had repeated missed collections and asked residents “bear with” crews while missed bins are collected.
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The new system, which sees recycling and food waste picked up every week, has been operating in West Devon “successfully” for the last 10 years.
Some residents have praised the “great” new system as you can recycle more items, but others have pointed out problems with it – with some locals collections running a week behind.
One local said: “For what it’s worth, the new system in the South Hams is great in that you can now recycle tonnes more stuff.
“Yoghurt pots, foil, plastic waste etc, and they’ll take your empty glass too.. So it’s a positive change in theory, but obviously the council is having major trouble actually doing it.”
FCC has asked that residents follow council advice to place their new recycling bins and boxes “in the right places” for collection, to ensure that binmen can carry out collections properly.
A spokesperson for FCC said: “We have been questioned about the vehicles being too large for some areas, the vehicles selected to deliver this service are state of the art recycling vehicles and they are sized to maximise the collection of recycling across the District.
“We do [ask] residents to follow council advice to place their recycling bins and boxes in the right places for collection.
“We appreciate for some that this may mean changes to the way their recycling has been collected previously but we ask for your support on this.”
One of the missed collections in the South Hams(Image: submitted)
FCC said it remains confident that “once these hurdles have been overcome”, the service will “deliver all of the benefits promised at the outset”
Another South Hams villager said that their recycling was collected today, a week later than scheduled.
“It looks like [binmen] are having to walk to the hard-to-get places in narrow lanes where the lorry won’t fit,” they said.
“[It’s] not that far, 50 yard maybe, but that is a long way to lug two big green boxes, a bag of plastic waste and a waste food caddy, then take the boxes back to the house.”
Cllr Baldry said that all missed grey and brown bin collections aim to be collected within three working days.
“Whilst we complete the change-over to the new service for all residents, we are sorry to say that we cannot return for any missed recycling,” he said.
“We ask that residents keep it until the next collection. In such cases, residents can put additional recycling out in any sturdy container although the recycling still needs to be sorted in the same way as the other containers.
“Where possible, we ask that residents use recycling banks for items such as glass and paper.”
FCC Environment statement in full
On April 1 2019, FCC Environment began providing all waste, recycling collection and street and toilet cleaning services on behalf of South Hams District Council extending the company’s existing contract with West Devon Borough Council to deliver a range of benefits to residents in both communities.
The waste and recycling service in West Devon, which mirrors the system rolled out in South Hams, has been successfully operating for over 10 years and residents have responded well. The recycling vehicles now in use in South Hams have been in use in West Devon since March 2018.
The system, which was specified by South Hams Council and is considered ‘best in class’ by many other local authorities in England, has been carefully designed to maximise the amount of materials collected for recycling, reducing waste in the grey bin, which is what residents wanted to see. The system also delivers quality recyclate which means the materials will go on to be recycled into new products.
But behind the scenes this system has been far from easy to implement in South Hams and we acknowledge there have been teething problems which have resulted in some residents having missed collections and we are truly sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.
It is important to note however that we will be collecting from nearly 46,000 households on this new recycling service on a weekly basis. In addition we are also collecting general waste and green waste from nearly 47,000 properties on a fortnightly basis – so the levels of missed collections reported represent a small proportion of the total.
It should also be noted that the system was designed on the basis of recycling vehicles filling up once a day and being emptied at the end of the working day but due to the home working implications of lock downs through 2020-21 and residents saving recycling for the new system to launch, the vehicles can fill up, up to 2 to 3 times a day, so they need to travel back to the depot and unload each time but we are making our way through the implications of such unprecedented volumes.
We are working hard to collect from residents that have been missed and to collect from the harder to reach properties on our rounds and we are getting there but we would ask residents, particularly those who have had repeated missed collections, to bear with us at this time.
We have been questioned about the vehicles being too large for some areas, the vehicles selected to deliver this service are state of the art recycling vehicles and they are sized to maximise the collection of recycling across the District. We do residents to follow council advice to place their recycling bins and boxes in the right places for collection. We appreciate for some that this may mean changes to the way their recycling has been collected previously but we ask for your support on this
We are asking residents to bear with us in the coming weeks while these issues with this complex recycling scheme are ironed out and we remain confident that, once these hurdles have been overcome, that the service we have been contracted to deliver across South Hams and West Devon will deliver all of the benefits promised at the outset.
You can find more out about the new recycling service in the South Hams, here[2].
The roads policing unit posted a statement which read: “Thankfully no injuries here after this HGV failed to negotiate a roundabout in Knowsley industrial estate. Closure in place on School Lane please avoid whilst we recover the vehicle.”
A road has been closed in Knowsley after a HGV tipped over at a roundabout.
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Travel information service INRIX posted a comment which read: “School Lane closed due to overturned lorry at Kitling Road. Traffic is coping well. On the roundabout.”
Police were called to Trentham Road in Butterton at around 11.30am today.
Photographs from the scene show a Readymicks Concrete lorry on its side, blocking the road.
It is not thought anyone was injured in the incident. West Midlands Ambulance Service said it had not attended.
Traffic monitoring company Inrix reports that Trentham Road is currently closed in both directions from the A53 Whitmore Road to the Butterton turn-off, causing delays. It is affecting traffic between Whitmore and Hanchurch.
Recovery services are said to be at the scene working to remove the lorry.
StokeonTrentLive has contacted Staffordshire Police for a statement regarding the incident.
Anyone with any information should call the police on 101.
Top stories from today’s newsletter
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A new rail service which will take 5,000 lorry journeys off of one of county Kilkenny’s busiest roads is due to start next month.
Iarnród Éireann, XPO Logistics and the Port of Waterford in Belview, county Kilkenny this morning announced they are to begin a new twice-weekly rail freight service between Ballina in county Mayo and Plunkett Station in Waterford.
The news comes as a huge boost to the economy of the South East and has potential to benefit both Belview Port in county Kilkenny and Rosslare Europort in county Wexford.
The twice weekly rail service – in both directions, will reduce emission on the delivery of the freight by 75% and will travel through county Kilkenny to Dublin, before heading west toe County Mayo.
The new service will take up to 100 lorries a week off the busy N24 road which has been the site of many accidents and deaths over the past two decades.
Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Jim Meade said, “We are entering a very exciting phase where rail freight can offer key solutions for the movement of freight as the country addresses both environmental and congestion challenges in this sector.
“Today’s announcement with XPO and Waterford Port demonstrates the viable opportunities that can be developed that will not just support industry and the logistics sector but is also fully aligned with the country’s climate action plan,” Mr Meade concluded.
Dan Myers, managing director, transport – UK and Ireland, XPO Logistics, said: “We take environmental protection seriously at XPO. So we are pleased to work in partnership with Irish Rail in delivering an intermodal solution, with the flexibility of loading and unloading goods in a drop-trailer setting. Our goal is always to manage supply chain activities as efficiently as possible whilst helping our customers lower their carbon footprint.”
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan welcomed the announcement and said: “The way we choose to connect communities and businesses will be critically important as we look to halve our emissions by 2030.
Rail and other sustainable solutions will play an important role on our journey to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This new freight service offers a climate friendly option connecting enterprises from the West to the Southeast of the country and onwards to export markets,” Minister Ryan concluded.
Lorry drivers parked irresponsibly in a lay-by are causing danger to motorists and preventing a food vendor parking up at his regular spot.
Wayne King, 38, of Cinque Ports Catering says HGV drivers regularly block the entrance to the lay-by. And once it was so bad, the only way he could get set up for a day’s work was to reverse into the area through its exit.
Wayne King of Cinque Ports Catering is trying to make a go of the business but sometimes can’t even enter the lay-by because of drivers parking irresponsibly
The problem is along the A256 Whitfield[1] bypass between the Whitfield turn-off and the Eythorne exit.
One time a driver had parked up for a nap, leaving about 1m of his lorry sticking out on the road.
“People were beeping their horns, having to swerve out of the way. It was so dangerous,” Mr King says.
His friend took pictures which they sent on to police. Officers did arrive, but sometimes when he has phoned with road safety concerns, they haven’t responded for five hours.
When they did attend, last Thursday, they easily resolved the issue by asking the driver to roll forward.
This driver parked with 1m of his HGV sticking out into the dual carriageway
But it has not been as easy when Mr King has asked the drivers to move. Some have flatly refused, saying their Taco says they must stay there for another 40 minutes.
Under EU law, commercial drivers must have a digital drive time monitor called a tachograph (taco) fitted to their vehicles to ensure statutory rest times are taken, keeping roads free of over tired drivers.
According to the government website, drivers are limited to nine hours a day behind the wheel which can be increased to 10 hours twice a week – totalling 56 hours in a six-day week. When a taco says they have to stop driving, they must park up at the next stop. Usually this is a lay-by if a designated lorry park or service station is not near.
If a lay-by has other commercial drivers resting, a driver might be tempted to squeeze in to adhere to drive time regulations, even if it blocks the entrance.
Mr King fears this kind of parking could lead to an horrific accident on the dual carriageway, or prevent a car from entering the lay-by in an emergency, such as if a tyre has blown.
Drivers have beeped and had to swerve to avoid crashing into this lorry
He claims there is not any enforcement at the lay-by he uses but he has seen some vehicles get clamped further up the county on the dual carriageway at Folkestone.
He also claims to have seen police officers drive past when lorries have been parked dangerously, without stopping to make the area safe.
We asked Kent Police to comment on these claims. The force was able to confirm it had been to one of the incidents but did not comment on Mr King’s claims about enforcement.
A spokesman said: “Kent Police was contacted at 7.56am on Thursday, May 6 to a report that the rear of a lorry was blocking part of the A256 near Whitfield.
“Officers attended the scene at 8.10am and the road was cleared.”
Drivers have to take statutory breaks, but some aren’t parking legally
Mr King, a Dovorian now living in Eythorne, set up the business through the Covid pandemic and is hoping to make it a success.
Getting something done about this will be hard for Mr King, because the local authorities take responsibility for different parts of his complaints.
As well as enforcement Mr King wants signs erected asking drivers to keep the entry clear.
When Kentonline[2] approached Kent County Council and Dover District council, both said the parking issues weren’t their area of responsibility. KCC said signage comes under the remit of Kent Highway Services (KCC) but the spokesman was not aware of any sign about staying within the lay-by.
Mr King is continually clearing the site to keep it nice for customers after having a massive clean up when he started trading at the site in April.
