Recovery truck carrying broken-down Royal Mail van stopped by police

Royal Mail customers in Wiltshire may have noticed a delay in priority deliveries after a broken-down post van was picked up by a recovery truck and then stopped by police.

The Roads Policing Unit were out patrolling in the county on Thursday, March 7, 2024, when they noticed one recovery vehicle which was significantly overloaded.

The truck was spotted carrying a Royal Mail post van loaded up floor to ceiling with the 9am special deliveries.

The combination of both vehicles and the van full of parcels’ weight caused the total to be significantly over the legal limit, and the recovery truck was issued a prohibition notice for committing an offence.

Sharing a photo of the vehicles on X (formerly Twitter), specialist officers described it as “a late post from a stop earlier today” where the “9am special deliveries put this combo overloaded.”

“Signed, sealed, delivered and prohibited,” said a spokesperson for the Wiltshire Police team.

“The driver signed for the ticket as proof of delivery.”

Wiltshire Police has been quick to clarify that it was the recovery truck which was found to be overloaded, and the driver of the post van wasn’t to blame.