A crane hire company has lost a legal battle to overturn a £6,000 fine for breaching road regulations governing the use of heavy vehicles.

Magistrates hit Hewden Crane Hire Ltd with the penalty after vehicles operating out of its Newhaven branch flouted the Road Traffic Act.

On three occasions the company failed to get permission from East Sussex County Council for vehicles over 30,490kg to use public roads.

In a fourth incident permission was given but a truck was used which weighed more than the heavier weight allowed.

The firm, which delivers and operates mobile cranes and has a nationwide fleet of 350 vehicles, has now closed its Newhaven branch.

It admitted the offences but appealed against the level of fines imposed in January - only for a judge to uphold the sentence.

Trading standards prosecutor William Cloherty told Lewes Crown Court that on June 2 county officials found a mobile crane owned by the company on the A26 heading for Newhaven which weighed 33,250kg - nine per cent over the maximum.

Subsequently, on July 10 and July 22, company vehicles were found to be 18 per cent over the limit.

The final breach was on September 8 when a truck was found to be 44 per cent over the maximum weight on the A27 at Selmeston.

The company accepted a £600 fine for the first offence but contested fines of £1,200 for the second and third offences and a £3000 penalty for the fourth.

Jonathan Edwards, defending, said the company failed to seek permission before setting off on the dates of the breaches because of staffing problems.

He said the company considered the fines too high for what it believed to be a "technical breach".

But Judge Simon Coltart, sitting with two magistrates, dismissed the appeal.

He said: "Given the scale of the appellant's business, we find that these fines are as low as they can possibly be set by magistrates."