JCB has celebrated the production of its 10,000th Teletruk forklift in patriotic style – by producing the milestone machine in the colours of the Union flag.

The red white and blue machine was snapped up by one of the UK’s best-known waste management companies, Biffa, who run one of the largest fleets of JCB Teletruks in the world. It was sold by JCB dealer, Watling JCB, of Whetstone, Leicestershire.

The keys to the colourful machine - a TLT 35D 4 x 4 Eco - were handed over by JCB Chairman Lord Bamford to Biffa CEO, Ian Wakelin, at JCB’s World Headquarters, before it was pressed into service at Biffa’s new flagship mechanical biological treatment facility in Horsham, West Sussex, where it is the sole industrial forklift truck handling waste bales.

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Ian Wakelin said: "We have long recognised the advantages the JCB Teletruk's forwards reach ability brings to our business which is why we have over 50 of these innovative machines working at our plants across the UK.

"Its ability to reach forwards and load and unload lorries from one side saves time, space and ultimately money, which is crucial in an industry as competitive as ours. We are delighted to have taken delivery of the unique 10,000th Teletruk, the only one in the world to be painted in the colours of the Union flag."

It is highly specified with a full cab and air conditioning, waste kit and a Cascade bale clamp. It is also one of the first machines off the production line with the brand new 'JCB Diesel by Kohler' engine; a highly fuel efficient Tier 4 Final/Stage IIIB which not only meets the next stage of emissions legislation without the need for a diesel particulate filter (DPF), but also uses less fuel and improving efficiency.

The JCB Teletruk, manufactured at JCB Utility Products, Cheadle, Staffs, is the only counterbalanced forklift in the world with the ability to reach forwards. It is the only industrial truck with 4x4 capability and can work in rough or unprepared ground conditions enabling customers to keep the machine working in spaces previously considered inaccessible and in a range of applications thanks to its ability to pick up a host of attachments including clamps, grabs, lifting hooks, buckets, forks and rotators.

(CD/MH)