In what is surely an under contested category in the Guinness World Records, the Reverend Ray Biddis has set the record for the world’s fastest motorbike hearse – going at a speed of 114mph.

Injecting a bit of rock ‘n’ roll into the standard hearse design, the Baptist Minister decided to customise his 2.3 litre Triumph III to the tune of £20,000.

He said: “I nearly got wiped out on a ride and realised if I had done I would have to be carried to my funeral in a car and I didn’t want that. I know some people get taken in a motorbike sidecar but a true biker wouldn’t be seen dead in one of those, so I came up with the idea of an all-in-one hearse.”

He went on to joke, “I’d like to have another go and get faster but I don’t think I would get away with it with my wife.”

The Royal Mail was dealt two damning blows over the past week as its first class service came under scrutiny, whilst the fate of over 9,000 post offices could be on the line when it is to be sold to a private company.

Under its current universal legal obligations, The Royal Mail should have the birthday card you posted to Gran on Monday morning delivered by Tuesday if sent first class. However, there have been reports that first class post is slowly being changed to an alternate day service. Next day delivery for first class post could become a thing of the past as the Royal Mail struggles to cover days off and refuses to pay overtime to employees who extend their routes.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “There’s no truth in that whatsoever. It’s a short-term situation in a very small number of areas…We are delivering the Universal Service apart from in certain cases which we are trying to resolve.”

A spokesman for the Communication Workers Union, which represents Royal Mail staff, said: “It won’t admit to it but it’s attempting to cut costs by not providing cover. Royal Mail is not coming clean but it’s trying to introduce this “under the radar” in rural areas and it’s only going to spread unless action is taken.”

The bad news continues over fears that the Royal Mail sell-off could result in the closing of over 9,000 post offices. Again, it appears that is the country folk who will suffer the most, especially in areas where there is only one post office.

On Tuesday Edward Davey, Postal Affairs Minister, said the Government is doing everything it can to protect post offices. It has signed a £1.34billion funding deal over the next four years, equal to more than £330million a year.

That’s the UK government’s argument when they announced plans to allow longer lorries of up to 17% longer than existing ones.

Whilst this sounds fine in theory, since the last increase in lorry dimensions, on average, one in four HGVs is still driving around empty. This means there has not been any direct evidence of longer lorries leading to reduction in empty running vehicles.

With 70% of UK registered HGVs at the top limit, statistics show that hauliers tend to buy the largest vehicles permitted by law and use them to carry out both large and small loads.

Therefore, the problem is probably not which vehicles are being used but the efficiency of using them. In Germany, their Maut lorry road-user charging system has resulted in 11% reduction in empty running lorries in a five year period up to 2009.

Another potential risk with longer HGVs is the increase in road injuries as the proposed HGV will be even longer than the 18 metres bendy bus, which is being phased out by the Mayor of London due to twice as many injuries caused compared to other buses.

What do you think about these proposed plans? Please share your thoughts with others below.

The economic respite for the transport industry will be cut short for UK hauliers who travel through the EU due to increasing toll charges. Eurocrats announced yesterday plans to increase toll charges by 30 per cent to help combat noise and air pollution.

Algirdas Šemeta, EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union to the European Tax Policy Forum and Centre for European Policy Studies, stated, “Our objective is less about introducing a new tax than about restructuring energy taxation.”

UK Hauliers who operate in Europe are already charged a 18p per kilometre as part of EU law, however European transport companies are not charged for using UK roads.

Kate Gibbs of the Road Haulage Association said: “This will just be horrendous. We have to pay tolls when we go to Europe, but their lorry drivers don’t when they come here, as well as more in petrol and diesel tax.

“Hauliers are already operating at the very tightest possible margins. A 30 per cent rise in toll charges is too big to absorb. Consumers will see it passed on as the cost of all goods in all shops will rise.”

These costs will likely have a knock on effect on the wider public; critics have argued this would increase the price of food and other imported goods.