YOU don't have to have lived in Otley for 50 years like Derek Thompson to know that for this small market town lorries are big news.

More than 300 people turned out for a demonstration in favour of banning heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) from passing through the town in October.

The campaigners received the backing of Leeds North West MP Harold Best and afterwards, more unexpectedly, Leeds City Council.

Given such an atmosphere you might expect Derek, as a lorry driver of more than 40 years' standing, to be a little defensive about his job. But not a bit of it.

I met the 64-year-old at the Hanson run Coldstones Quarry in Greenhow, near Pateley Bridge, on a snow-sprinkled morning last week to join him for a delivery-run to Bradford.

As we set out in his 12 tonne Man 370 wagon, which is carrying a 20-tonne load of rough stone, I ask him what he thinks about those demanding a ban.

"I think the protesters have got some fair points," he says, "but it's awkward.

"There didn't use to be as many lorries as they are now, and the wagons are quite a bit bigger than they were, that's true.

"But the problem with a ban is that you'd just be moving the problem elsewhere, not solving it."

As we pull away from the scaled down Grand Canyon of the quarry itself we pass a sign saying No Lorries to Return Through Otley.

Derek says it is a policy which can add quite a few miles to return trips, but it's one his employer, Hanson makes sure its drivers stick to.

"The general rule is that we just don't take empty lorries through Otley," he says.

"Any driver who doesn't obey the rule risks getting banned, so I think the company's being pretty fair about it.

"The most direct route would be to come back the way we've gone, but empty lorries do rattle, especially when the roads aren't very good."

Our route takes us from Greenhow Hill over to Blubberhouses, and then, after crossing the A59, onto the small and windy road over Snowdon Moor and into Otley.

Derek's vehicle may be powerful, but when it comes to negotiating steep hills and tight corners it certainly isn't built for speed.

"When people say we're speeding most of the time we physically can't," he laughs. "I'll be doing an average of probably 30mph on the way to Bradford today, and be down to 20mph quite a bit with all the hills."

Once actually over the bridge and into Otley itself it takes us no more than a couple of minutes to smoothly pass through town and join the Bradford Road.

Well-known in Otley, Derek and his wife Anne also run a shop in the town dedicated to his main hobby, fishing - Angling and Country Sports in Cross Green.

He first learnt to drive lorries in the army after being called up for National Service with the Royal Artillery in the late 1950s, and now regularly clocks up around 1,500 miles a week.

Still enthusiastic about his job after more than four decades, he doesn't know if he'll take up the chance to retire next year yet.

And he's sure his career is now safer than ever.

Making his way slowly down a steep slope, he said : "The wagons have got so much more sophisticated in recent years, I've got an extra magnet-driven brake on now, just for dealing with steep hills, which makes it so much easier.

"You can stop a lot quicker and they are just generally much safer."

Derek and his 30-odd other Hanson drivers can make up to seven deliveries a day, depending on where their customers are.

But because of the 'no return through Otley rule' the number of wagons recorded going through town daily this year dropped to 80 a day from July to September - compared to 145 a day in the months beforehand.

For some, that will still represent an unacceptable figure for a small community like Otley.

But Derek refers to our trouble-free passage through town.

"Otley doesn't pose any problems for a wagon driver if you take it steady," he says, "and we pass through without doing much harm.

"There isn't a lot of hassle, really."

We drop off our load at a Balfour Beatty site in Bradford and then turn to round off an enjoyable two-hour trip without touching the roads of Otley again - although we do pass through Pool in Wharfedale.

As on the outward leg of the journey, Derek is waved to by practically every passing vehicle and farmer as we pass the airport at Yeadon and travel on, through Leathley and Farnley, back to Greenhow.