rial area operator !eared of test char
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EREFORD trial area intdent, Dennis D. Bucha was cleared by the n's magistrates of hing coaches sent in for il test with intent to de Buchanan, of Cornes, Stretton Sugwas, defraudulently using .tration number plates on a vehicle.
:er Loftus, prosecuting he West Midland Traffic missioners, said that, in ember 1984, Bedford 7h BNO 699T was iitted for annual test and :ually passed.
November 23, a similar s purporting to be BNO was submitted for test. hen the chassis number checked, it did not tally that on the microfiche bed to the test application ie prosection said that was a "ringing exercise" lat having got one bus igh the test, Mr Buchahad swapped the registraplates over to get the id coach through, the being superficially iden
chicle examiner Alan /ells said that a week later ,isited Mr 13uchanan's uses and examined both lies.
t that stage, the registranumbers tallied with the sis numbers.
thicle BNO 698T had its ne partly dismantled and ad obviously been taken t and rebuilt. The side Age locker next to the enhad been cut away. The : end was left open and still being repaired.
he area around the front Was dirtier than he iid expect after a week's ining. He examined dc BNO 6991 and it aped to be in a reasonable dition.
..evidence, Mr Buchanan he had purchased the two icles in June 1984. He ar ranged with his son, Keith, to respray the front and rear of both vehicles while he was away on holiday.
The work had been done by the time he returned and he thought that his son had replaced the number plates.
As far as he was aware at the time, the vehicles had the correct registration numbers on when they were sent for test.
He maintained that the vehicle sent in for test in October had also had the incorrect registration number on it. He said that fraudulently to switch plates would ruin him.
In view of his problems with the Traffic Commissioners, presently only having a licence for 12 months, he could not afford to do anything like that.
Keith Buchanan said that when he took the number plates off the vehicle before respraying, he had put them on the floor and his threeand four-year-old children had played with them.
His father had gone on holiday before the vehicles were delivered, as they were delivered late because one had broken down en route to Buchanans.
They have subsequently had a dispute with Arlingtons (the dealer) about the condi tion of the vehicles as the other broke down on its first day in service and had to be towed in.
He claimed that BNO 6991, which presently had a tax certificate, had never been tested. He maintained that the vehicle being worked on in the yard was the one that had been tested the month before.
He said there would be no point in changing the plates a month later to get a vehicle through the test because a lot could go wrong with a t• vehicle in a month.
Defending, Gary Davis said the prosecution had failed to show that Mr Buchanan had deliberately sent the coach in with wrong number plates or with intent to deceive.
• 'The hearing of a series of lesser offences against another trial area operator, William Davies (trading as Stretton Coaches) of Sweetmans Yard, Plough Lane, Hereford, was adjourned until August 5.
Mr Davies is accused of three offences of failing to display a psv operator's licence disc, of using a vehicle when the fuel supply cut-off device was not clearly marked, using a vehicle on which the name and address of the owner was not clearly marked and failing to have at least 10 hours' consecutive rest between successive working days and driving for a continuous period in excess of four hours.