THE USUAL cure for the periodic outbreaks of the French disease of strangulated hernia on the roads - in the form of crippling blockades by striking fishermen, farmers or hauliers - is for their craven government to cave in to their selfish demands.

But it seems they have a different treatment for the innocents made to suffer from the side-effects - the perfidious ploy of conveniently ducking their promise to compensate them.

Remember all those British truckers stuck for days last November as anarchic French lorry drivers held their government to ransom with yet another throttling of the road network?

It cost British haulage firms - many of them struggling one-man outfits - an estimated £20million.

Yet that damage was supposed to be swiftly mended as the French government pledged they would be recompensed.

But today we find that promise is as rotten as the stinking fish and fruit the truckers were left with.

For the French government - our partners in Europe and signatories to the EU principle of the free movement of goods - are playing the blockade game themselves with legitimate claims for compensation.

They are obstructing them with a wall of bureaucracy.

As we see from the case today of one East Lancashire haulier seeking £8,000 compensation, they are being blocked by deliberate delaying tactics - in the evident hope that the claimants will get fed up and give up.

This is not good enough.

If the French will not pay, our own government should make them.

And rather than restricting their help to Britain's hard-hit truckers to a diplomatic exchange on their behalf, they should be taking sample cases to the European Court, seeking not just compensation, but damages for this callous Gallic shrug.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.