A VILLAGE police officer has offered to police a potential ban on HGVs in villages surrounding Weston. North Somerset Council is keen to press ahead with an experimental 7.5-tonne limit on the A368 between Churchill traffic lights and West Harptree after

A VILLAGE police officer has offered to police a potential ban on HGVs in villages surrounding Weston. North Somerset Council is keen to press ahead with an experimental 7.5-tonne limit on the A368 between Churchill traffic lights and West Harptree after years of campaigning by villagers in Burrington, Blagdon and Langford.PC Ray Bradley, who covers the villages, will enforce the ban by issuing a £30 fine to those who flout the restrictions. He said: "Obviously there has to be an element of common sense as you cannot expect a 38-tonne lorry to turn around and few satellite navigation systems used by lorries will pick up on the new regulations."However, transport companies claim a ban on HGVs will cause them commercial difficulties.A Freight Strategy Group spokesman said: "Any restriction will add significant time to journeys as lorries will need to use other routes as well as adding to fuel usage and costs."He added that neighbouring authorities were not in favour of the measures which would be difficult to police. Burrington parish councillor Stephen Hale said: "Damage to road edges by HGVs is particularly significant in Lower Langford."He cited a report by the Cranthorne Research Centre which mentioned damage caused to kerbs by HGVs caused accidents in rural areas.