but Welsh pair lose theirs
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• Two more South Wales coach operators have lost their licences following the issue of prohibition notices after warnings over the maintenance of their vehicles.
Colin Pearce, trading as Pearce Coaches of Nelson, Mid Glamorgan, held a six-vehicle Licence, though he told South Wales Traffic Commissioner John Mervyn Pugh that he was now only operating one vehicle on stage carriage work.
Evidence was given that since a previous public inquiry in April 1987, Pearce's vehicle had attracted one immediate prohibition notice and one delayed notice. He had not kept to a maintenance contract with an outside agency, there was no flow chart and other matters raised in April had not been dealt with.
Revoking the licence, Mervyn Pugh said his policy of trust had been dented and he had been let down. He was not a person who gave two warnings. He had been criticised for putting operators on trust, but he believed that it was a fair policy. Neglect was the kernel of the complaint against Pearce, and he had a duty to the public to ensure that the vehicles he licensed were 100% safe.
Two prohibition notices had been imposed on the vehicles operated by Donald Woolfe, trading as D & N Travel of Ammanford, despite a warning letter in July.
Evidence was given by a vehicle examiner of a fuel leak resulting in heavy contamination and a consequent fire hazard, and of U-bolts that were found to be loose enough for the axle to move in relation to the chassis.
Woolfe maintained that the U-bolts had only required one turn to tighten them and that he had been unaware of the fuel leak when he took the vehicle to the test station, the vehicle having been checked over before going for testing.
Revoking the licence, Mervyn Pugh said it was very sad when an operator fell by the wayside and let him down, but Woolfe had been told that prohibitions would be death to his licence.
His trust had been broken and he had to bear in mind the safety element Woolfe had failed to prove his could maintain his vehicles properly, and he could have been under no illusions that his licence would be revoked in such circumstances when he was sent a warning letter last July.