One of Longhope's long-established family-run haulage firms has been hit by the current economic crisis. Harold Read Transport, of Church Road, has had to make 12 of it's employees redundant, and will continue to be run with just four workers. The haulage company has been in the village since 1954, when it originally transported coal and scrap metal, but also moved anything from Forest stone to apples and sugar-beet. Harold Read said that the recession was the toughest he had experienced. The domino effect created by other local companies in the area being hit by the credit crunch, and CKS Recycling at Cinderford, in particular, folding leaving unpaid debts, and the cost of fuel had exacerbated the situation.
We all hope that this crisis is short-lived and things will pick up again soon, and the sound of Harold's lorries rumbling through the village will be heard once more.