Q We use a breakdown vehicle under trade plates for moving
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brokendown and abandoned vehicles for the Local Authority, taking them to a breaker's yard for breaking up. The car breaker pays us for the vehicles on arrival and this is part of the remuneration for the service.
Recently, the local police Inspector has told us that because we receive payment for the vehicle from the breaker, we are operating the recovery vehicle on trade plates illegally. He contends that if we received no payment for the vehicle delivered then the operation would be quite legal. We have operated in this way for some years and the police have not objected before. Are we breaking the trade plate law?
ARegulation 35(1) nil) of the Road Vehicles iRegistration and Licensing) Regulations 1971 allows a recovery vehicle operated under trade plates to be used for -carrying a disabled vehicle, or for towing such a vehicle t)/Vhether with the assistance of a trailer or not), from the place where it has broken down or from such other place where it is subsequently for the time being situated to a. place for repair, storage or breaking up-.
The paragraph is not qualified by any reference to payment either for the service or for the brokendown vehicle. It would be unreasonable to expect the service to be performed without charge and it could be argued that the proceeds of the sale of the brokendown vehicle form part of the cost to the Local Authority for the service.
In other words, if the car breaker paid the scrap value of the car to the local authority which then passed this on to you, together with the service charge, then there would be no suggestion that you were carrying goods for sale; this seems to be the contention of the police officer. In that case, the result would be the same as under the 'present procedure though more paperwork would be engenered.
In our opinion, you are not doing anything illegal by operating in the manner described and the Vehicle Licensing Centre at Swansea agrees with that opinion.
However, that is not to say that a magistrates' court would necessarily agree if the police decided to prosecute. It might, therefore be more prudent to increase your service charge to the local authority by an agreed amount to represent the value of the scrap vehicle leaving the breaker to pay this to the Authority direct.