The road lobby is running rings round the European Union in its attempts to foist mega lorries on an unwilling population.

Although police moved in to stop a Lincoln-based haulier driving an 83ft “long heavy vehicle” on to the road on 1 December 2009, the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment is allowing monster lorries to be given a “trial” by trailer maker Muldoon Transport.

The road lobby has for years been putting pressure on the European Parliament to allow bigger lorries.

A spokesman for the DoE in Northern Ireland attempted to justify the trial by saying: “Kogel in Germany and Iveco in Italy are already testing similar trailers, while Swedish companies are also hoping to export their home-grown trailers.”

He added that the DoE did not have any plans to allow widespread use of longer trailers.

The DoE granted a Vehicle Special Order to Muldoon of Dungannon to allow the vehicles on to public roads in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for one year. In theory the vehicle is not permitted to carry goods for “hire or reward”.

In Britain, the Department for Transport rejected trials in a 2008 report on the grounds of safety and environmental impact.

But the Road Haulage Association insisted that the issue of mega lorries is still very much alive in Europe and “will not go away”.

Philippa Edmonds of Freight on Rail said the Lincoln-based haulier was breaking the spirit of the law, if not the law itself and was ignoring public opinion.

Of course, freight should be shifted from road to rail. A 1,600 tonne freight train needs less energy than one 60-tonne mega truck.

It is suspected that European Union bureaucrats are trying to force all member states to accept 60-tonne mega trucks.

Germany has already agreed to a “nationwide field trial” of mega trucks and in Denmark mega trucks are being “tested” for three years.

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has allowed cross-border journeys by mega lorries even though this violates European Union law and 200 organisations in Europe have said they oppose the move.

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