Key takeaways
- Removal companies refuse items for three different reasons: it’s illegal for them to carry (dangerous goods law), their contract with you excludes it, or they’ll carry it but won’t insure it. Only the first is settled by law; the other two live in the terms you sign, so read them.
- Flammables are the big one: petrol, gas bottles, paint, white spirit, aerosols and fireworks all fall under dangerous goods regulations that removal firms aren’t licensed for.
- Fuel left in lawnmowers, strimmers and motorbikes counts too. Drain equipment and let it air for around 24 hours before moving day.
- Cash, jewellery, passports, deeds and medication should travel with you, not on the van. Most firms’ terms exclude them from cover entirely.
- Your contract will cap what the firm owes you per item, commonly around £40 though it varies, and will usually exclude breakages in boxes you packed yourself. Find both clauses before you seal a single box.
- Almost everything on the refused list has a legitimate disposal or transport route: your local HWRC, retailer take-back schemes, food banks or specialist couriers.
The quick answer: the don’t-pack list at a glance
Removal companies won’t take flammable or hazardous goods (petrol, gas bottles, paint, aerosols, fireworks, chemicals), perishable food, pets, and (under most firms’ contract terms) cash, jewellery, important documents and medication. Some items, like plants and alcohol, travel “at your own risk” with no insurance cover. The table below covers every common case.
| Item | Why it’s refused | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol, diesel, fuel cans | Dangerous goods: flammable liquid under ADR rules; firms aren’t licensed to carry it1 | Use it up, or take it in your own car (approved containers, no more than 30 litres kept in total) |
| Gas bottles (butane, propane, camping gas) | Compressed flammable gas: refused even when “empty”, as residual gas remains | Retailer or supplier take-back (e.g. Calor), or HWRC; tell staff on arrival |
| Paint, thinners, white spirit, varnish | Flammable liquids and solvents; leak risk ruins whole loads | HWRC in original tins; donate usable paint via Community RePaint |
| Aerosols, strong cleaning products, pool and garden chemicals | Pressurised, corrosive or oxidising: all controlled dangerous goods | Use up, give away, or HWRC hazardous waste point in original containers |
| Fireworks and ammunition | Class 1 explosives: dangerous goods law bars a firm from carrying them other than in line with ADR2 | Use before the move or contact your local authority/police for disposal advice |
| Firearms | Licensing and secure-transport rules; most firms refuse outright | Transport yourself under your certificate conditions, or use a registered firearms dealer |
| Loose batteries (especially lithium) | Fire risk in transit; most firms’ terms exclude them | Carry with your devices; recycle spares at supermarket battery points |
| Fuel in mowers, strimmers, motorbikes | Same flammables problem in disguise: tanks leak and vapour builds up in the van | Drain the tank and run the engine dry, then air the equipment for ~24 hours |
| Perishable food (fridge, freezer, open packets) | Spoils in transit, leaks, attracts vermin; refused under most firms’ terms, not by law | Run down the freezer over 4 weeks; donate sealed, in-date food to a food bank |
| Pets | Unventilated, unheated van holds are unsafe, and illegal for animal welfare | Take them in your car, or book a pet courier for long moves |
| House plants | Soil, water and pests; most firms carry them only “at your own risk” | Move them yourself in your car, prepped in plastic pots |
| Cash, jewellery, watches, precious metals | Theft risk, and most contracts exclude them from cover; check yours | Carry in your personal essentials bag |
| Passports, deeds, certificates, securities | Irreplaceable or costly to replace; excluded from cover | Carry yourself; keep digital copies as backup |
| Medication | You may need it before boxes are unpacked; excluded from cover | Keep at least a week’s supply with you |
| Laptops, hard drives, irreplaceable photos | Data and sentimental value can’t be compensated under a per-item cap | Carry yourself; back up data before the move |
| Alcohol, wine collections, perfume, tobacco | Often carried, but many policies exclude them; check yours before you pack | Transport yourself, or arrange declared, itemised cover in advance |
Good to know: every reputable firm’s terms differ slightly. If an item matters to you, ask the specific question in writing before moving day. Some companies will carry restricted items with written authorisation, most won’t, and none will decide in your driveway with the van half-loaded.
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Compare removal quotesWhy removal companies refuse certain items
“They won’t take it” actually means three different things, and knowing which tier an item falls into tells you how to handle it. This is the distinction most lists skip, and it’s the one that saves you money.
Tier 1: illegal to carry. The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 apply the European ADR agreement to road transport in Great Britain (see HSE’s guidance on the regulations), and regulation 5 is the bit that bites: it makes it an offence to carry dangerous goods where ADR prohibits it, or where the carriage doesn’t comply with ADR.2, 3 ADR classes cover exactly the things on the don’t-pack list: flammable liquids like petrol and white spirit, gases like butane and aerosols, oxidisers like pool chlorine, corrosives like drain cleaner, and explosives like fireworks and ammunition.4 The bar isn’t absolute at every quantity: ADR has limited-quantity and small-load exemptions, and whether a particular product is caught depends on what’s in it and how it’s packaged. But removal firms aren’t trained, equipped or insured as dangerous-goods carriers, so they apply a blanket refusal rather than argue thresholds at your front door. Arguing is pointless here, because it isn’t the firm’s rule to bend.
Tier 2: excluded by your contract. Everything below Tier 1 is contract, not law. Most removers work from a standard set of trading conditions, and those terms commonly bar flammables, chemicals, loose batteries, weapons and ammunition without written authorisation, and commonly exclude money, jewellery, precious stones and metals, deeds, securities, perishable food, medication and living plants. Wording varies from firm to firm, though, and nothing here binds you until you sign it, so the list that matters is the one in your own paperwork: ask for the terms and read the prohibited-items and excluded-goods clauses before you book. These items aren’t illegal to carry; the firm has simply chosen not to accept the liability, which is why a written authorisation is occasionally possible where Tier 1 never is. (Pets are the odd one out: they appear in the contract too, but it’s animal welfare law that really settles it.)
Tier 3: carried but not insured. Some things go on the van without complaint but sit outside the insurance policy: alcohol, perfume, owner-packed boxes, undeclared valuables. If they’re damaged, you get nothing, or a token payout limited by the per-item cap in your contract, commonly around £40 but varying by firm. More on this in the insurance section below.
Tip: ask any prospective mover two questions: “What won’t you carry at all?” and “What will you carry but not insure?” A firm that answers both clearly and in writing is a firm worth shortlisting. Our other removal guides cover how to compare quotes properly.
Flammable and dangerous goods
This is the category with no wriggle room. A van packed wall-to-wall with cardboard, furniture and soft furnishings is a fire waiting for a source, which is why the rules exist and why no reputable firm bends them.
Petrol, diesel and fuel cans
No removal firm will carry fuel, full stop. If you have jerry cans in the garage, run them down before the move or transport them yourself. Two different rules get muddled here. Storing and carrying are not the same thing: the Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 cap the petrol you may keep in suitable portable containers at 30 litres, and petrol kept in a motor vehicle counts towards that limit, while the act of carrying it on the road falls under the carriage regulations, which exempt a private individual moving retail-packaged fuel for personal use rather than for work.5, 1 Container sizes matter too: HSE gives plastic containers up to 10 litres, metal containers up to 20 litres, and a demountable fuel tank up to 30 litres, so check what you have complies.6 Better still, don’t move fuel at all: use it up in the weeks before the move.
Gas bottles, including “empty” ones
Watch out: an “empty” gas bottle is never actually empty. Residual butane or propane remains under pressure, which is why movers refuse them regardless of the gauge reading. Never put a gas bottle in a household bin or leave it in a loft for the next owner to find.
The good news is gas bottles are among the easiest refused items to deal with. Suppliers like Calor run take-back schemes through their own centres, many stockists accept returns, and most household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) take cylinders if you tell staff on arrival. Don’t count on money back, though: where a supplier pays anything for a returned cylinder it’s discretionary and capped, not a deposit you’re owed. BBQ gas, patio heater bottles and camping canisters all follow the same rule.
Paint, thinners, white spirit and varnish
Half-used paint tins are the most common item people try to sneak onto vans, and one leaking tin can ruin an entire load, which is exactly why firms refuse them. Never pour paint down a drain. Take tins to your HWRC in their original containers (some councils cap the quantity per visit, so check your council’s HWRC page first), and donate usable leftover paint through the Community RePaint scheme, which redistributes it to community projects.
Aerosols, cleaning products, pool and garden chemicals
Deodorant and hairspray cans are pressurised containers; oven cleaner and drain unblocker are corrosive; pool chlorine is an oxidiser; pesticides and weedkiller are toxic. All are controlled under dangerous goods classes. Use them up, give them to neighbours, or take them to your HWRC’s hazardous waste point, in their original, labelled containers, and never decanted or mixed together.
Fireworks, ammunition and firearms
Fireworks and ammunition are Class 1 explosives for transport purposes, and regulation 5 of the dangerous goods regulations makes it an offence to carry them other than in accordance with ADR: above the limited-quantity and small-load thresholds that means an ADR-trained driver and an approved vehicle, which a removal firm doesn’t have. There’s no separate carrier’s licence for explosives in Great Britain, so don’t expect a firm to produce one; the bar comes from the carriage rules themselves.7, 2 Leftover fireworks from last November should be used or disposed of via your local authority’s advice, not binned, and not boxed. Firearms add a licensing layer: shotguns and firearms must be transported under the conditions of your certificate, and most removal firms refuse them entirely. Transport them yourself in line with your certificate’s security conditions, or arrange transfer through a registered firearms dealer, and tell your local police force about your change of address.8 It’s a condition of your certificate.
Fuel left in mowers, strimmers and motorbikes
Watch out: this is the one that catches people out on moving day. A lawnmower with half a tank of petrol is a fuel can in disguise, and crews will refuse to load it. Drain the tank, run the engine until it cuts out, and leave the equipment to air (ideally outdoors) for around 24 hours before the move so the vapour disperses. The same applies to strimmers, chainsaws, generators and petrol hedge trimmers. Motorbikes and mopeds usually need a specialist vehicle transporter rather than the removal van anyway.
Perishable food
Removal firms won’t take the contents of your fridge or freezer, and most refuse open packets from the cupboard too. Food spoils in an unrefrigerated van, leaks over other people’s boxes in shared loads, and attracts vermin into vehicles and storage warehouses, which is why it appears on every standard prohibited list.
The fix is planning, not packing. Start a freezer run-down about four weeks out:
- Four weeks before: stop buying frozen food. Do a freezer inventory and plan meals around what’s in there, oldest first.
- Two weeks before: stop restocking the fridge beyond essentials. Start eating through jars, sauces and opened packets.
- One week before: aim for a near-empty freezer. Sealed, in-date cupboard food you won’t eat can go to a local food bank. Most supermarkets have donation points.
- Two days before: defrost the freezer and let the fridge dry out with the doors open. Movers will refuse an appliance that’s still wet or iced up, and a damp sealed fridge grows mould in transit.
Tip: a cool box in your own car is fine for the day-one essentials: milk, butter, and whatever you need for the first breakfast in the new house. Just don’t ask the crew to take it.
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Compare removal quotesPets
No removal company will carry your dog, cat, rabbit or fish tank inhabitants, and this one isn’t negotiable: the back of a removal van is unventilated, unheated, pitch dark and stacked with unsecured heavy items. Transporting an animal that way would breach animal welfare law, so firms exclude pets in their standard conditions without exception.9
For most moves the answer is simple: pets travel with you, secured properly in your own car, with the journey planned around water and toilet stops. For long-distance or international moves, dedicated pet couriers and relocation services carry animals in ventilated, temperature-controlled vehicles with welfare stops built in. Fish, reptiles and other tank animals need their own plan: transport them in secure containers with water from their existing tank, and set the tank up as one of your first jobs at the new house.
Moving day itself is stressful for animals even when the transport is sorted: doors open, strangers everywhere, familiar furniture disappearing. Our full guide to moving house with pets covers the day-of plan, settling animals into the new home, and when a cattery or kennel stay is the kinder option.
Plants
Living plants sit in a grey zone, and it’s a contract question rather than a legal one. Most removals terms exclude them and many firms refuse them outright; others will load them but strictly “at your own risk”: no cover for damage, and no guarantee they’ll survive a hot van. Check the excluded-goods clause in your own paperwork. Soil spills, water leaks onto other boxes, and pests hitching a ride into a storage warehouse are the reasons behind the reluctance.
If your plants matter to you, move them yourself. Prep makes the difference:
- Repot into plastic a couple of weeks ahead: lighter, and no smashed terracotta.
- Prune and pest-check so you’re not transporting problems to the new house.
- Water lightly the day before, not the day of: damp soil, not wet.
- Box them upright in open crates with newspaper packed around the pots, and load them last so they travel on top and come out first.
Good to know: moving abroad with plants is a different game entirely. Most destinations require phytosanitary certificates and ban soil altogether. See the international section below before you promise the monstera it’s coming too.
Valuables, cash and documents
Most removals contracts exclude money, jewellery, watches, precious stones and metals, deeds and securities from carriage, and even where a firm will physically take them, expect them to sit outside cover. Find the excluded-goods clause in your terms before you hand anything over, because that document is what decides it, not the crew on the day. The rule of thumb is simple: if losing it would be a disaster and no payout could fix it, it travels with you.
Pack a personal essentials bag that never goes near the van. It stays in your car, or with you, from the first box packed to the last box unloaded:
- Passports and ID: plus birth and marriage certificates.
- Property documents: deeds, completion paperwork, tenancy agreements, and your solicitor’s and estate agent’s contact numbers.
- Cash and cards: including any foreign currency and cheque books.
- Jewellery and watches: anything of high or sentimental value.
- Medication: at least a week’s supply for everyone, plus repeat prescription paperwork.
- Laptops, hard drives and backup devices: your data is worth more than the hardware; back everything up before the move anyway.
- Phone chargers and a power bank: moving day is long and your phone is your lifeline.
- Keys: for both properties, cars, and anything else lockable.
- Irreplaceables: family photos, a wedding dress, an heirloom: anything no insurance payout could restore.
- First-night kit: kettle, tea, toiletries, a change of clothes, kids’ comfort items.
Tip: pack this bag first, not last, and put it somewhere the crew can’t helpfully load it. The boot of your car is ideal. “The box with the passports is somewhere in the van” is the moving-day sentence you never want to say.
Carried but not covered: the insurance small print
This is the tier that costs people real money, because everything looks fine on moving day and only goes wrong at claim time. Four exclusions come up again and again in removals policies. The wording is your firm’s, not a national standard, so treat this as what to look for in your own policy rather than a settled list:
| Situation | Standard cover | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Boxes you packed yourself | Not covered | Most policies cover breakages only where the crew both packed and unpacked the item; pay for professional packing on fragiles, or accept the risk |
| Jewellery, watches, cash | Not covered | Carry them yourself in your essentials bag |
| Alcohol, wine, perfume, tobacco, furs | Not covered | Excluded by many policies; check yours, then transport them yourself or arrange itemised cover |
| Undeclared high-value items | Not covered | Declare anything valuable in writing before the move so it’s listed on the policy |
| Declared items, professionally packed | Covered | This is the standard you’re aiming for on anything that matters |
Underneath all of this sits the liability cap. Unless you buy enhanced cover, your contract will limit what the firm owes you per item. That cap is commonly around £40, sometimes £50, but it varies between firms and the only figure that binds anyone is the one written in your paperwork, so find that clause before you sign. At £40 it means £40 for the television, £40 for the sofa, £40 for the box containing your entire glassware collection. Enhanced or declared-value cover replaces that cap with the actual value of your goods, and for most households it’s worth every penny.
The full detail (standard liability vs extended cover, how to declare values, and what to check in a policy before you sign) is in our guide to insurance for your move.
Watch out: hiding a prohibited item in a box breaches the terms you signed, and removals contracts typically let the firm refuse a claim on that basis for the whole load, not just that box. Read the prohibited-goods and indemnity clauses in your own terms so you know where you’d stand. If a leaking bottle of white spirit you packed ruins a van-load of furniture, expect to be held liable for the damage, potentially including other customers’ goods on a shared load.
What to do with items your movers won’t take
Almost everything on the refused list has a proper route. Start early. HWRC trips and take-back schemes are easy with two weeks in hand and miserable the night before completion.
| Refused item | Best route | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gas bottles | Retailer/supplier take-back or HWRC | Calor and most suppliers take their own cylinders back, but any payment is discretionary and capped, not a guaranteed deposit refund; at the HWRC, tell staff; never bin them |
| Paint | HWRC, or Community RePaint if usable | Original tins only; some councils cap quantities per visit. Check your council’s HWRC page; never pour down drains |
| Chemicals, oils, solvents | HWRC hazardous waste point | Original labelled containers, never mixed; engine oil has dedicated recycling banks at most sites |
| Petrol/fuel | Use up, or carry in your own car | The 2014 petroleum regulations cap what you may keep in approved containers at 30 litres, and fuel kept in your vehicle counts towards it; carrying it yourself for personal use is exempt private carriage, not something those regulations permit5 |
| Batteries | Supermarket collection points | Most large supermarkets have battery bins; electricals with built-in lithium batteries go to the HWRC small-electricals bay10 |
| Perishable food | Eat, then donate | Sealed, in-date items to a food bank; run the freezer down over four weeks |
| Alcohol and wine | Drink, gift, or move yourself | For serious collections, specialist wine couriers offer temperature-controlled, insured transport |
| Valuables and documents | Carry yourself | Or use an insured specialist courier for high-value items you can’t transport personally |
| Pets | Your car, or a pet courier | See our pets section above |
| Fireworks, ammunition | Local authority / police advice | Never bin or burn; your council’s waste team can advise on explosives disposal |
Tip: many HWRCs now require you to book a slot online, and some check proof of address, awkward mid-move, when your proof says the wrong house. Book your tip runs for the week before completion, while your documents and your address still match.
Moving abroad? Extra restrictions
International moves add a customs layer on top of everything above, and it’s stricter, not looser. Three things catch people out:
Plants need paperwork, and soil is largely banned. Taking plants from the UK to the EU requires a phytosanitary certificate for most species, and growing media (soil) is prohibited for most destinations.11 As of 2026, the inspection and certification fees make the realistic minimum around £186 per consignment (inspection time is charged at £127.60 per half hour, plus £33.56 per sample tested and £25.52 for the certificate itself). Check the current fees in the gov.uk plant export guidance. For a few houseplants, it rarely makes financial sense: rehome them and buy again on arrival.
Food, alcohol and tobacco face customs rules and duty. Most international movers refuse foodstuffs entirely, and alcohol above personal allowances attracts duty and paperwork at the destination. Wine collections need a specialist shipper who handles the customs declarations.
Restricted goods need licences. Firearms need licensing, and antiques or ornaments containing ivory or other CITES-listed material need a permit to move out of Great Britain, with only narrow exemptions for personal effects.12 Export licensing on electronics is a narrower thing than it sounds: it applies to strategic and dual-use goods, not the laptop and television from an ordinary household. Some items are also banned outright at the destination regardless of what the UK allows. Your international mover should walk your inventory before packing day precisely to flag these. If they don’t offer to, that’s a red flag about the mover.
Good to know: destination-country rules trump UK rules, and biosecurity is where household goods most often get held up. Australia and New Zealand are known for strict controls on organic material, and the sort of thing that gets picked up is untreated wood, garden tools with soil still on them, or a vacuum cleaner that was never emptied. Treat that as the shape of the problem rather than the list: every country sets its own biosecurity and prohibited-goods rules and they change. Check the destination country’s own rules, and ask your mover for their prohibited list before you pack, not at the port.
“Won’t move” vs “hard to move”
Don’t confuse the prohibited list with the difficult list. Plenty of people assume movers won’t take pianos, safes, hot tubs, snooker tables or American-style fridge freezers, but these are all moveable, they just need the right crew, kit and quote.
- Pianos: moved every day with piano wheels, skids and enough trained lifters. Uprights are routine; grands need partial dismantling. Expect a specific surcharge on the quote.
- Safes: weight is the issue, not policy. Declare the weight and location (upstairs safes may need specialist equipment) and empty the contents into your essentials bag first.
- Hot tubs: need draining, disconnection and often a specialist team with lifting gear or a crane for awkward gardens.
- Snooker and pool tables: a slate bed must be dismantled and re-levelled by someone who knows how; specialist firms exist for exactly this.
The distinction matters for your quote: prohibited items need a disposal plan, but hard items just need declaring in advance so the company sends the right crew. Surprising a two-man crew with an undeclared piano is how moves run over by half a day.
Don’t-pack checklist (printable)
Run through this list before you seal your final boxes. If it’s ticked here, it either travels with you, gets used up, or takes a trip to the HWRC. It does not go on the van.
- Petrol, diesel and fuel cans: used up, or in your own car (approved containers: plastic up to 10 litres, metal up to 20, 30 litres kept in total).
- Gas bottles: returned to supplier or taken to the HWRC, even the “empty” ones.
- Paint, thinners, white spirit: HWRC in original tins, or donated via Community RePaint.
- Aerosols, cleaning products, garden and pool chemicals: used up, gifted, or HWRC hazardous point.
- Fireworks and ammunition: disposed of via local authority advice, never binned.
- Garden machinery and bikes with engines: tanks drained, run dry, aired for 24 hours.
- Loose and lithium batteries: travelling with you or recycled.
- Fridge and freezer contents: eaten, donated, or in your cool box; appliances defrosted and dry.
- Open food packets: used, binned or given away.
- Pets: travel plan sorted: your car or a booked pet courier.
- Plants: prepped in plastic pots and travelling in your car.
- Cash, jewellery, watches: in the essentials bag, in your car boot.
- Passports, deeds, certificates, medication: in the essentials bag.
- Laptops and hard drives: backed up and travelling with you.
- High-value items going on the van: declared to the mover in writing, cover confirmed.
- Pianos, safes, hot tubs: declared in advance so the right crew turns up.
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Compare removal quotesFrequently asked questions
Will removal companies move alcohol?
Usually yes for a normal household amount. A wine rack or drinks cabinet will typically go on the van. The catch is insurance: alcohol, along with perfume and tobacco, is excluded by many removals policies, so if a case of wine breaks in transit you may get nothing. Check the exclusions in your own policy before packing day. For anything valuable, transport it yourself or arrange declared, itemised cover; serious wine collections are better with a specialist temperature-controlled courier.
Can removal companies move plants?
Some will, some won’t, and almost all that do carry them strictly at your own risk with no cover for damage. Vans get hot, plants tip, and soil and water threaten other items. If your plants matter, move them yourself: repot into plastic, prune, water lightly the day before, and carry them upright in your own car. Moving abroad, expect phytosanitary certificates and a near-total ban on soil.
Do I really have to empty my freezer?
Yes. No firm will move a freezer with food in it: food spoils, leaks and attracts vermin, and a full appliance is dangerously heavy. Start running your freezer down about four weeks before the move, donate sealed in-date food to a food bank, and defrost the appliance at least 48 hours before moving day so it’s dry when the crew arrives.
Can I pack kitchen knives?
Yes. Knives are normal household goods, not prohibited items. Pack them safely: wrap each blade in packing paper or a tea towel, tape the bundle so nothing can slide out, box them flat rather than points-down, and label the box clearly so nobody reaches in blind. What you can’t pack are weapons in the legal sense: firearms and ammunition have licensing rules and most firms refuse them.
What happens if I hide prohibited items in a box?
Best case, the crew finds it and leaves it behind, costing you time. Worst case, it travels undetected and causes damage, and because you’d have breached the terms you signed, expect the firm’s insurance to refuse to pay for anything it ruined. On a shared load you could be liable for damage to other customers’ goods too. If you’re unsure about an item, ask the company in writing before packing day; some will grant written authorisation for borderline items.
Will movers take gas cookers and fridges?
Yes. Appliances themselves are fine. A gas cooker must be disconnected first by a Gas Safe registered engineer (crews aren’t allowed to disconnect live gas), and a fridge or freezer must be empty, defrosted and dry.13 What movers won’t take is the gas bottle that fed a freestanding hob, or a fridge with food still inside. American-style fridge freezers with plumbed water may also need disconnecting in advance.
Can removal companies take my lawnmower?
Yes, but only with an empty tank. Drain the petrol, run the engine until it cuts out, and let the mower air for around 24 hours so the fuel vapour disperses before it goes in the van. The same applies to strimmers, chainsaws and generators. Electric and battery mowers just need the battery removed and carried with you if it’s lithium.
Why won’t removal companies take cash and jewellery?
Two reasons: most removals contracts exclude money, jewellery, watches and precious metals from carriage (check yours), and even where a firm would take them, no insurance attaches, so nobody can compensate you if they vanish. Removal crews also prefer not to carry them for their own protection against accusations. Keep valuables in a personal essentials bag that stays with you all day.
Sources
Figures, deadlines and rules in this guide are referenced below. Each source was checked on 10 August 2026. Links open in a new tab.
- Department for Transport (GOV.UK), (2024).
- legislation.gov.uk, (2009).
- Health and Safety Executive, (2025).
- Health and Safety Executive, (2025).
- legislation.gov.uk, (2014).
- Health and Safety Executive, (2025).
- legislation.gov.uk, (2014).
- legislation.gov.uk, (1998).
- legislation.gov.uk, (2006).
- Environment Agency / Defra (GOV.UK), (2025).
- Animal and Plant Health Agency / Defra (GOV.UK), (2026).
- Animal and Plant Health Agency / Defra (GOV.UK), (2026).
- legislation.gov.uk, (1998).