Tacho adjournment costs over E1,000
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• The trial of a Worcestershire haulier, his company and 16 drivers on tacho and hours charges has been adjourned until January despite protests that this will cost the defence more than £1,000.
The drivers are accused of failing to record time spent on ferries, of dri ving excessive hours and of taking insufficient breaks and rest. Blessgold, trading as MJM Freight Services, of Redditch and its director Roger Marriott are accused of permitting the alleged offences by the drivers.
During a two-day hearing before the Redditch magistrates in October the defence main
tained that time spent on the ferry need not be recorded because the vehicles had been driven on and off the ferries by dock staff (CM 7-13 November) .
When the hearing resumed the DOT Vehicle Inspectorate asked for an adjournment after being told that the magistrates clerk who had been dealing with the case had been taken ill that morning.
For the VI, Beverley Bell said that the replacement clerk would be in difficulty if asked to advise the magistrates about the evidence already given and about any legal arguments based on that evidence.
John Backhouse, defending, said it was not an insurmountable problem. Maintaining that an adjournment would cost the defence more than £1,000, he added that many of the drivers were in court instead of being out on the road.
However, the chairman of the magistrates said it was inadvisable to proceed in the absence of the original clerk and adjourned the case until January.