Home » General News » Gwent police blasted over recovery policy

Gwent police blasted over recovery policy

RECOVERY operators in the Welsh county of Gwent are waging “open warfare” against Gwent Police which is set to introduce a new roadside recovery system in the area.

TEXT: The operators took the unprecedented step of advertising in The Mirror earlier this month to argue their case to the public having already blockaded the Severn Bridge over the Easter Bank Holiday.

Independent operators represented by the eight-member Independent Gwent Recovery Operators claim the force has, since 1994, effectively created a virtual monopoly of vehicle recovery in the region.

Now with a new system to be introduced by the police through recovery operator ACM Traffic Support Services, IGRO consultant Mike Eagles claimed the criteria governing who is allowed to do which job “has now changed in such a way that many independent operators will soon find themselves devoid of work”.

He said: “All of a sudden following the inspections for the new management system last autumn, we were told that our operators had to meet the highest specification and that obviously rules many of them out.”

Eagles called the criteria “ludicrous,” and said the police action is “open warfare against the motorist” who will soon have only one recovery facility in the area.

The criteria include the mandatory carrying out of scene of crime work and also motorway business.

In 1995 IGRO member and garage owner Malcolm Daniels, took the Gwent Police to the high court claiming it was acting illegally in its delegation of recovery work but he lost the case.

A Gwent Police spokesman said all local independent companies have had the opportunity to “be fully involved in the selection process for service providers,” but no further comment was made other than that it “will strive to provide local communities with continued recovery work”.

He confirmed the IGRO is set for a meeting with both the Gwent Police and its governing body, the Gwent Police Authority Committee on 22 May.

Leave a Comment