Thee KillSpills campaign, founded in 2003 to counter the menace of diesel spillage and particularly the danger it presents to motorcyclists, has come to an end.

Announcing the end of the campaign, the KillSpills team leader Stephen Edwards said that the increased pressure of his ‘day job’ coupled with family domestic needs meant that he could no longer give the campaign the time and resources it needed.

Although sponsored and supported by the BMF since 2005, (and from 2008 also by the IAM) the small volunteer KillSpills team remained just that and it is to their credit that they achieved so much in raising the profile of the spilt diesel menace.

Highlights over the past seven and a half years included the annual London KillSpills Rally, at one time attracting over 7500, riders converging on Parliament with regular reports and petitions taken to the Prime Minister’s office at 10 Downing Street.

Thanks to KillSpills, the Highway Code now includes a section on the danger of diesel spillage and due to the Highways Agency support, leaflets and guidance were issued to fleet operators and drivers. The DfT also came on board and commissioned and funded a study into best practice on cleaning up diesel spills.

The high profile campaign also presented annual awards to companies who had done the most to lessen the risks and improve awareness of diesel spills. Recipients included big fleet operators, ASDA and Sainsbury’s, and TruckProtect, the makers of an innovative and now widely adopted anti-spill device. Awards were also presented to the Highways Agency and to the DfT in recognition of their work on the topic.

Speaking on the announcement, KillSpills founder, R1 riding Stephen Edwards, a 45 year old Accountant from Lancashire said: “This has been an extremely difficult decision for me but I’ve come to the end of my personal road on this. We’ve achieved so much and I’ve enjoyed what we’ve done, but this is it, I really can’t do any more. My thanks go to my team and the many people who have helped us along the way and of course to the BMF and IAM whose support has been invaluable.”

For the BMF, spokesman Jeff Stone said:  “From the day I first met Steve way back in 2003, I was impressed by his enthusiasm and professionalism and was pleased to be able to offer BMF support. The BMF have battled the diesel menace for years and gained some improvements, but Steve raised the bar and by concentrating on this single issue gave it a whole new dimension. Motorcyclists owe a lot to Steve and the KillSpills team.”

The BMF will continue to lobby on the diesel spills issue as part of its broader campaigning programme.

See www.killspills.org.uk for more on the campaign.