Black Country horses and carts spark complaints

Tatters are increasingly returning to the use of horses and carts to collect scrap metal in the Black Country, prompting renewed calls for regulation of the trade amid concerns the old-style transport may be causing traffic problems.

Police are monitoring roads in Walsall after a driving instructor reported a "heavily laden" cart being hauled along Proffitt Street, Coalpool. Another resident was caught behind a collector in a cart for 10 minutes as queues of traffic built up behind the carriage.

The practice is not illegal, with a scrap metal collector using a horse and cart subject to the same regulations as other road users under the Highway Code.

However campaigners who want licensing for tatters said the time had come for stricter rules.

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Gina Lycett said: "We received a call from a driving instructor to say he was behind a horse and cart which was heavily laden with scrap metal.He was concerned about the heavy load."

Another resident, who did not want to be named, wrote to the Express & Star about the "increase in horse-drawn carts in this area being used by tatters".

He added: "These carts have no warning signs on them and are often driven by young persons. I felt the urge to write this after being stuck behind on for 10 minutes."

Ian Robertson, a former councillor for the Blakenall ward who is among those calling for regulation of tatters, said: "Having a licence for anyone who collects scrap would ensure it is all done according to the book."

There are 120 known tatters operating in Wolverhampton, South Staffordshire and Walsall.