Bradford man cautioned after blocking police speed camera van with tipper truck load

Police were carrying out enforcement work in the Thornton area of Bradford last Friday (July 14) when the 67-year-old parked his vehicle and raised the bed of his tipper truck to obstruct the camera operator. He was interviewed under caution on Thursday (July 20) and admitted wilfully obstructing a policing support officer acting in the execution of their duty.

Paul Jeffrey, Head of the Prosecutions and Casualty Prevention Unit, said: “Dangerous and inappropriate speed continues to cause crashes that result in avoidable deaths and serious injury. We remain committed to promoting safe speeds across the road network.

“On this occasion a driver chose to stop and attempt to obstruct the lawful enforcement of speed limits. It is a criminal offence to wilfully obstruct a safety camera operator in the execution of their duty and we will investigate all such incidents.

“Our staff are working to keep road users safe, and drivers who choose to speed run the risk of being the cause of a tragedy or being prosecuted for speeding. I would encourage all drivers to drive carefully, within the limit and at a speed appropriate to the road conditions.”

The tipper truck driver was given a conditional caution with conditions prohibiting him from parking within 20 metres of any mobile speed enforcement vehicle or doing anything to willingly obstruct their view, and to remove all social media posts relating to him committing this or other offences. He was also issued with a Section 59 Notice under the Police Reform Act which means a repeat of this behaviour may result in the seizure of his vehicle.

West Yorkshire Police enforce speed limits across West Yorkshire using fixed and mobile cameras on behalf of the Safety Camera Partnership.