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Northern Authority Warns Scots Operators of Suspension

25th March 1960, Page 73
25th March 1960
Page 73
Page 73, 25th March 1960 — Northern Authority Warns Scots Operators of Suspension
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A N intimation that one of their 'special-A-licensed vehicles, authorized r-k in the Northern Area, would be suspended fortwo months was given to John MacRae (Transport), Ltd., Dundee, by Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, Northern Licensing Authority, at Newcastle upon Tyne last week.

He advised the company to assign the vehicle and licence. The suspension penalty was withheld at the request of Mr. T. H. Campbell Wardlaw, for MacRae, after he said that an appeal would be lodged.

When the company appeared to show why their licence should not be revoked or suspended, Mr. C. Hartley, of the Licensing Authority's office, explained that when application had been made for it, it had been stated that MacRae intended to operate the vehicle from Oakland Garage, Prudhoe-on-Tyne.

The application was granted. In January, 1959, when MacRae were granted a variation by substituting another vehicle, it was again indicated that the permanent base would be Oakland Garage.

From information received in November, 1959, it was apparent that the vehicle had ceased to be used from Prudhoe, and was in fact being operated mainly from the company's chief base at Dundee.

.Mr. A. Glendinning, a partner of Messrs. Glendinning Bros., Oakland Garage, Prudhoe, said that his firm and MacRae had done much business together. MacRae often back-loaded his vehicles from Scotland.

Clearing House

His clients carried on a substantial business as a clearing house in Dundee, said Mr. Campbell Wardlaw. In November, 1958, when they bought the vehicle, they had been told that it was necessary to procure a base in the north-east of England when having it licensed.

Mr. Glendinning had agreed that they could use his garage at Prudhoe as a base. Since then the vehicle, and its successor, had been fully employed on tramp work in England and Scotland.

Mr. Wardlaw submitted that there was nothing in the statement made upon the application form, regarding the base or centre, which .would justify revocation or suspension. He quoted the judgment given by the Transport Tribunal, in December, in the Bradbury appeal.

He submitted that, in view of the observations made by the Tribunal, and having regard to " the facts, the statements which his clients had made were true within the meaning of the Act.

Perhaps it would have been better the application had been submitted to the Scottish Licensing 'Authority for administrative and other reasons, but there was "no magic" in the term "base or centre."

it would• be serious if the licence were revoked or suspended, Said Mr.

John MacRae, managing director. Whilst it was true that the driver of the vehicle lived on the "Fife side of Scotland," the records would reveal that the vehicle had worked more in England than in Scotland. To all intents and purposes, the premises of Glendinning were his office in the Northern Area, and he could be contacted immediately through them. Since thepresent inquiries had started, he had applied to the Scottish Authority to have the vehicle reassigned in Scotland, but this had been refused.

Mr. Hanlon said that the facts in the appeal quoted by Mr. Wardlaw were

somewhat different. In that case the base or centre was only about 34 miles away from where most of the work emanated—and the respondent had lived at the place .stated to be his permanent base, using his home as an office. In the present case, the base was 210 miles away by road from the company's address, where rectal-As were kept. There was no agency and no servant kept there.

In another case—the Hay's Wharf appeal—the Tribunal had said that the base or centre must be some place from which vehicles were controlled. It had never been submitted to him that MacRae's vehicle had been controlled from Prudhoe. The vehicle had been operated, controlled, garaged and fuelled from Dundee, where all the records were.

If the decisions of the Tribunal on the question of base were going to destroy the meaning of the word " base," then the whole of the Act would become meaningless, said Mr. Hanlon. He could not believe that the decisions of the Tribunal were intended to say that there was no need for a base.

It was clear that when MacRae purchased the vehicle they knew that they intended to operate it from Dundee.

He proposed to suspend the licence for two months and give the company an opportunity to assign the vehicle to somebody else. "1 shall not tolerate a continuation of this complete subterfuge," he stated.


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