‘Many Tyre Dealers Still Fitting Lead Weights’

Many tyre retailers are still fitting lead weights and have not made plans to go over to lead free balance weights, according to the Vehicle Certification Agency in Bristol. The enforcement manager of the VCA, Alan Bowker recently met with NTDA director Richard Edy and reported that he was deeply concerned about the continued supply of lead into the market place and the slow changeover to non lead alternatives.

“The Government has been sympathetic towards the trade and have been somewhat generous in their interpretation of the regulations but those companies which are blatantly ignoring the ban could be in trouble, especially if they are importing lead weights for distribution,” Richard Edy commented.

The NTDA says it has agreed to give every assistance to the VCA in its drive to ensure that the regulations are enforced and retailers maybe the subject of random inspections by VCA Inspectors must be in a position to demonstrate that they have either changed over the lead free completely or that stocks of lead a close to exhaustion. Free copies of the association’s Wheel Balance Weight Warning poster, which gives details of the ban, are available from Aylesbury.