TC unable to act on unsuitable site
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• North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Patrick Mulvenna has decided that he is unable to take any action against a licence granted to a Stockport drinks distributor, despite concluding that it should never have been granted in the first place.
Traffic examiner Terence Brown said that the operating centre of MA Drink at Charles Street, Stockport was entirely unsuitable. He had seen the company's 17-tonne vehicle parked partly on the pavement while it was being loaded.
The yard could not accommodate the two vehicles authorised on the licence so trucks had to reverse the length of Charles Street to reach the yard.
DOT vehicle examiner Simon McAlla said that during a main tenance investigation in February he found that both trucks were in a satisfactory condition. However, three light goods vehicles were in a poor state of repair and he issued them with immediate prohibitions for defects including tyres, steering, lights and brakes.
Director Abdul Brazeghi said that until the vehicle examiner's visit the light vehicles had not been subject to regular inspections. If the yard was reorganised it would be possible to park both vehicles alongside the ware
house, he told the TC. The company had found new premises in Stockport and was awaiting a surveyor's report. He thought it would be able to move within six months.
Issuing a warning about the company's maintenance standards, Mulvenna said he was gravely concerned at the safety implication of vehicles reversing down a narrow backstreet.
He felt that the company's operating centre was unsuitable but his hands were tied as there had been no change since the licence was granted in 1995 and it could only be reviewed on the fifth anniversary of its grant.