Flight's fined £615
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DELAYS caused by roadworks and central London's peak commuter traffic were blamed by Flight's Coach Travel Ltd and 13 of its drivers last week when they admitted a total of 246 drivers' hours offences before Birmingham magistrates.
The offences arose out of the operation of the company's express service from Birmingham to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The company was fined £615 for permitting the offences and ordered to pay £659 costs.
The drivers were each fined £2 on each offence. They were: Kenneth J. Essex (fined £14); Lee Allen (£10); Robert Day (£2); Terence Michael Browne (£8); Ronald H. Allen (02); Robert Gray (£16); Gerald Haycock (£8); John Thompson (£18); Roger Ludlow (£60); Joseph Webster (£38); Gordon Carrier (£4); Sidney Collins (£16); and William Ball (£20).
Prosecuting, Peter Wiseman said that Flight's Heathrow service had been extended to Gatwick with no adjustment to the duty roster or any addition to the staff. A routine check of tachograph charts had revealed that the drivers had regularly exceeded four hours continuous driving and eight hours driving in a working day. The working day being exceeded by one and a half to two hours.
When interviewed, the company's managing director, Ken Flight, had said the situation had since been put right by the use of two extra drivers, said Mr Wiseman.
Defending, Geoff Davis said that drivers had taken breaks varying between five and 20 minutes which when added together came to more than the legal requirement.
Flight's was a highly reputable company operating over one million vehicle miles a year. The drivers had been working under instructions and Flight's would be paying any penalties.