Four lorry drivers have admitted breaching Cleveland Bridge’s 18-tonne weight limit.
Cleveland Bridge in Bath
The Grade II* listed bridge over the River Avon has had an 18-tonne weight limit in place since it reopened in 2022 after a lengthy closure for repairs and refurbishment.
With approximately 16,000 vehicles a day crossing it, the temporary 18-tonne weight limit was extended for another year last autumn as Bath & North East Somerset Council continues to monitor and collect data from the historic structure.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras capture the details of any vehicles in breach of the weight limit. The prosecutions at Bath Magistrates’ Court last week were brought by the council.
Pawel Plaszczynski, 46, from Offenham in Worcestershire, admitted driving across the bridge four times – on 16th, 19th, 23rd and 26th August last year – in three different 44-tonne vehicles.
He was fined £83 for each and ordered to pay £320 prosecution costs and a £133 court surcharge.
Ladislav Borsanyi, 63, from Didcot in Oxfordshire, admitted failing to comply with the gross laden weight limit on 22nd August 2025 by driving a 44-tonne vehicle over the bridge. He was fined £192 and must pay prosecution costs of £320 and a £77 court surcharge.
Vasil Toskov, of Evesham in Worcestershire, admitted that he failed to comply with the gross laden weight limit on 10th August last year.
The 45-year-old was fined £192 with prosecution costs of £320 and a £77 surcharge.
Ventislav Yordanov, 49, of Cheddar in Somerset, admitted a charge of contravening the temporary traffic prohibition on 6th August 2025 by being at the wheel of a 44-tonne lorry.
He was given a £40 fine and ordered to pay £320 prosecution costs and a £16 surcharge.
