Malcolm Bingham has been appointed as regional policy manager and manager of highways, traffic and urban access in the Freight Transport Association's northern region.

His responsibilities will be to support FTA members' interests in the north east, to gain improvements in infrastructure and journey times, and to influence local authorities in facilitating improved urban access.

Based in Leeds, Bingham will also take a national lead role providing research, representation and advice on issues such as incident management, vehicle recovery and abnormal loads. He will additionally be responsible for issues relating to the Police Reform Bill such as stopping powers and statutory charges for removal of vehicles.

The FTA's regional director Heather Crocker said: 'Malcolm brings not only a wealth of local knowledge to the FTA northern region office, but also first-hand experience of industry's needs.' Additionally, the FTA has published its 2003 Yearbook of Road Transport Law, designed to keep its 11,000 members up to date with legislation developments. This annual guidebook includes updates, information on ADR harmonisation, the application of working time provisions and a timetable for the introduction of the digital tachograph.