Business Worries Over HGV Bridge Ban

Businesses in Fife are worrying about the impact of lorries being unable to cross the forth Road Bridge until next year.

There has been a general welcome following the re-opening of the busy thoroughfare this morning, but it is feared the HGV ban will affect the supply and delivery of goods.

Government talks are set to take place with haulage companies.

Some companies say it is costing them £1000 per day.

Eric Byiers, Chief Executive of Fife Chamber of Commerce, said: "Today’s announcement on the partial re-opening of the Forth Road Bridge will have a mixed reaction from the Fife Business community.

"Having previously been led to believe that the Bridge would be fully open by the 4th of January, it is clearly disappointing that what we have is only a partial re-opening with HGV’s unable to cross until mid- February we are now told.
 
"When we spoke to our members, they told us that the disruption was affecting them in two main ways in the immediate term – travel to and from work for their workforce; and the supply and delivery of goods. 

"The announcement today will bring welcome relief for people getting to and from work and will help LGV deliveries, for example, but the news that HGV’s will not be able to use the Bridge until mid- February remains a problem for some businesses. 
 
"We are told that Ministers and Officials will now discuss with hauliers “operational support” and that is to be welcomed, but the problem extends well beyond that to businesses with their own fleet of HGV’s. The press release also notes that the revised timetable is ‘subject to favourable weather conditions and no further defects being identified’.

"Given the terms of today’s announcement, there is likely to be a degree of scepticism about that timetable"