GETTY Madrid has banned large lorries from parts of its streets

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City hall chiefs will stop lorries over 3.5 tonnes taking to the streets in the lead-up to Three Kings Day celebrations on January 3, 4 and 5. Drivers who flout the ban will be fined and could face prosecution. HGVs parked inside security perimeters will be removed if their owners cannot be found.

The move will also affect buses over 3.5 tonnes, except public transport vehicles and tourist buses. The ban is expected to come into force in the areas where events are being held an hour and a half before the start of Three Kings parades and last for an hour and a half after they have ended. Around 15 of the parades are due to take place between next Tuesday and Thursday in different parts of Madrid with the main one taking place in the centre on January 5.

GETTY HGVs over 3.5 tonnes will not be allowed into parts of the city

More than 1,500 people will take part in the main parade alone, with thousands more families lining the streets along the route. The move was decided at a meeting between central government representatives for Madrid and city hall chiefs. Tunisian Anis Amri was shot dead by a police officer in Milan, Italy, last Thursday three days after leaving 12 dead and 56 injured by ploughing a stolen lorry into the Christmas market in Berlin.

BERLIN TERROR: 'TWELVE' dead as truck crashed into crowd at Christmas market Tue, December 20, 2016 A truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing at least 12 and injuring 48 Play slideshow REUTERS•AFP 1 of 21 A truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing at least 12 and injuring 48

Polish truck driver Lukasz Urban was hailed a hero by the German authorities, who said he appeared to have seized the lorry's steering wheel from Amri and prevented him from causing further deaths. A post-mortem later found he was shot in the head hours before the Berlin attacker rammed his lorry into the market. On July 14 this year a 19-ton cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and injuring 434.

GETTY The ban is expected to come into force in the areas where events are being held