Well done Nigel for raising this issue. I also wonder why you were not asked for your insurance and driving licence as well.

It is also the case that farm tractors - for which considerably reduced vehicle excise duty is paid by the farmer(s) - are (?) supposed only to be used on designated/specified short lengths of public highways so as to enable them to gain access to their fields. This requirement is also repeatedly flouted with no enforcement of it either.

So too is the prohibition that, as with all other vehicles, farm vehicles do not foul the highways (in this case with mud and effluent) but again nothing is ever done about this. In addition, some farmers are amongst the worst offenders when it comes to not complying with the requirements to contact signalmen at level crossings on the railways - hence several of the recent avoidable accidents here in the Welsh Marches.

As to the farming community's vehicles, lack of numberplates and working lights on farm trailers are things we all come across far too often. But, of course, the poor farmers - all of whom are, if you believe the moans of the miserable farmer who earns a nice little penny from helping to present Countryfile, so hard done by that some of them cannot afford to ensure their vehicles are legal before they proceed to chug along - in this case - the A49 at 30mph. Such a shame the poor darlings receive so little by way of public subsidy from us all!

It seems all to often we have farm vehicles travelling the public highway with no sign of a number plate , trailers with non working lights and drivers who seem unaware of their actions have on other road users regards convoying, lack of signals , talking on mobile phones ,etc etc and on the odd occasion questionable safety levels regards loads carried, they do seem to travel with impunity.

In the past they were permitted to travel reasonable distance from field to field via the public highway however that distance seems to have increased greatly these days " some" are a menace and a danger to other road users, it is also questionable if the police are as proactive with these road users as they are with car, van, motorbike and lorry drivers .

However i did witness a few months back in staffordshire the police ceasing a tractor on the public highway while being watched by a very angry protesting red faced farmer about having to leave his trailer of sillage on the side of the road , so perhaps some forces are more proactive than others? .

Quite agree with all the above. Another hazard I have encountered many times, is that when a tractor is towing an implement that has no tail lights at night, they turn on their rear facing work light, which, as well as being illegal, can dazzle the driver behind them. They do seem to be a law unto themselves.

I understand the law does permit farmers to use unregistered vehicles on the public highway when that is the ONLY means of vehicular access between two parcels of land which they either own or for which they have a formal tenancy agreement. There is however an element of 'reasonable distance' as a friend of mine who ran two farms four miles apart found out to his cost.

As more and more farmers come to rely on contractors or simply neighbours to carry out specific tasks (ploughing, sowing, silaging, combining, baling etc) the less responsible are, shall we say, pushing the boundaries.

That is not to denigrate the majority - most of the contractors' equipment one encounters on the highway is registered, well lit and well driven.

The menace isn't the individual farmer, it seems to be the armies of contractors who use agricultural vehicles to commute long distances from their base to the farm they'll be working at on a particular day, even if it's 30 miles away. Are the paying full road duty? No. I'd be interested to know the colour of the diesel in their tanks too.

Also i would like to point out the size of some of the tractors and in particular the trailers they are towing, do they have to have an equivalent to the MOT. HGV's have to have MOT'S for the road worthiness of the vehicle (Brakes etc...). Often i have seen trailers with defective lights, if the farmer can't do this bit of basic maintenance what else has been missed? The weight that they are carrying is not far from what some types of HGV's can carry and they are governed my stringent testing, i'll bet the local farmer doesn't...

Many slow moving agricultural vehicles will not move over to allow other road users to pass them as they do not have proper wing mirrors fitted.

There is no legal requirement for a tractor to carry a front number plate. It must display one either affixed to both sides, or one affixed to the back (Vehicle Excise and registration Act 1994).

How on earth does Nigel know that police are not stopping tractors? Has he followed them all? Another example of outstanding ignorance by someone with very little idea of what the police actually do on a day to day basis. Well done Nigel.

Dear Nigel,

Will you be so kind as to reply to my comment?

Best Wishes

Tim Roberts

I have been asked to reply to a letter by a Mr Tim Roberts? I only see a letter from a, and I quote "Tim" is that you? Tim says tractors must carry a rear number plate or one on both sides. I rest my case.

Best Wishes

Nigel