Commissioners told:
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Remember NBC's deficit before making grant
• In view of the National Bus Company's recent announcement that it had ended its second year of operation with a deficit of Him, the Traffic Commissioners should exercise extreme caution when considering road service licence applications in circumstances where an established stage carriage operator could be affected.
This was said by Mr Peter Fingret, representing the West Yorkshire Road Car Co Ltd. in Leeds last week when the company. together with Leeds Corporation. unsuccessfully objected to the new express licence application of Rhodes Coaches of Guiseley. The application was for authority to operate a service between Guiseley and the Leeds cricket and rugby ground at Headingley during the rugby season.
The court heard that if the licence was granted only one vehicle would be operated on the service and this would be restricted to members of the Airborough branch of the Leeds Rugby Supporters' Club and used for home matches only. Evidence given in support of the application claimed that the alternative services offered by West Yorkshire and Leeds City Transport were unreliable, infrequent and much costlier than those offered by Rhodes Coaches.
Mr Charles Rhodes. a partner in the firm, admitted under cross-examination that the service had been operated in the last rugby season without a licence. But, he added, as soon as he was informed a licence was necessary he had made an immediate application and operated throughout the rest of the season on a free basis.
In his submission to the Traffic Commissioners Mr D. Walker. for Rhodes, stated that, if granted, the new service would not lead to ait abstraction of passengers on the services operated by the objectors. The reason for this, he explained, was because the service for many years has been operated by Wallace Arnold and so the objectors could not lose passengers they had never carried.
The chairman of the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners, Maj-Gen Sir John Potter. said he was satisfied there was no passenger abstraction involved and decided to grant the licence.