Dispute over whether road is public or private
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Lorry driver Andrew Pearce has been convicted of drink-driving and his LGV driving licence has been revoked following a dispute over whether the road he was driving on was public. North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Brian Horner revoked the licence of Pearce, of Cow Lane, South Armley, at a Leeds disciplinary inquiry. Horner also advised that Pearce against applying for a new licence until after the beginning of July.
For Pearce, Gary Hodgson said that he lived in a group of cottages at the end of an unmade road which he believed was a private road. He said that Pearce had driven to the end of the road and had then gone out by taxi. When Pearce returned and got into the car he was stopped by police.
Pearce had no intention of driving on the public road, said Hodgson, and genuinely believed he was not committing an offence. Pearce said that refuse collection trucks could not get down the road and taxis and the milkmen would not go down It.
The problem was that the road was classed as a public road as it gave access to more than one cottage.