A highland haulage firm have been banned from operating for three weeks after being caught carrying a dangerously secured load. The logs that the lorry was carrying on the A9 were so badly secured that a serious road traffic accident could have been caused.

Inverness-based Highland Car Crushers Ltd were told by Transport Commissioner Joan Aitken that a 'catastrophic' road accident had been avoided. Driver William Hay who was also banned from driving a lorry for four weeks was stopped on the A9 just north of Inverness in December last year. Northern Constabulary spotted the unsafe load, with officers stating that the load had shifted forward and timber logs were protruding from the sides.

The volume of traffic on that stretch of road meant it would be inevitable that serious injury or death to other road users would have resulted from the logs falling from the vehicle.

The company has also had a restriction placed on its expansion for the next 18 months. Ms Aitken warned that any further safety breaches may lead to a total revocation of their operating license. She said that the ban would give company director Hunter Fraser an opportunity to ensure all staff were trained in securing loads.