”Beat the clock, you gotta beat the clock…”

Notorious spots used for sexual encounters on the A40 could have restrictions imposed to limit parking to 30 minutes.

The measures for two laybys at Forest Hill, between Oxford and Wheatley, have been proposed by Oxfordshire County Council in cooperation with Thames Valley Police.

That sounds more than enough time to me..!

But there are concerns it could prevent lorry drivers using the stops legitimately for breaks.

…

Under European Union rules, drivers must take a break, or multiple breaks, amounting to 45 minutes after no more than four hours and 30 minutes on the road.

Oops!

In his report to county council transport boss David Nimmo Smith, Mr Kemp said he had listened to the parish council’s concerns but still recommended the 30-minute limit.

He added: “While the regulations covering drivers’ hours do require a break of 45 minutes, this does not have to be in a single block.”

Maybe not, but why on earth should the people not causing a problem be further inconvenienced?

Mr Bingham, the FTA’s head of roads policy, said: “There is a limit on how long lorry drivers can be on the road before they are required to take a break, so it is not reasonable to keep shunting people along to other stops.

“It seems like someone has created a rule here that is going to punish people who have not committed a sin.”

Well, yeah. Ain’t it always the way? All because no-one wants to do the job of identifying and summonsing these people.

Say…if they can’t be arsed to do that, how are they going to find the time to enforce the new limit?

The county council report said that the new parking rules would be enforced by Thames Valley Police. But force spokeswoman Charlotte Redman declined to comment further.

Ah. Thought so.