1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
EC exemption for waste The
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The Wirrall magistrates have agreed that vehicles which do not belong to a local authority, but rhich are used for collecting refuse for disposal, are exempt from the EC drivers' hours and tachograph regulations.
As a result, .the court dismissed 200 drivers' hours and tachograph charges brought against 10 drivers employed by Butlers' Skip Hire of Wallasey.
Evidence was given by driver David Carney that he had driven skip vehicles, engaged on taking empty skips to private houses and delivering full ones to the firm's yard.
He had also driven bulk vehicles collecting waste from transfer stations for delivery to landfill sites.
Defending, John Backhouse said that nothing of value was being recovered: the material was just being picked up and disposed of. He maintained that the firm's vehicles fell within the exclusion contained in Article 4(6) of EC Regulation 3820/ 85 relating to vehicles used for
6 6
refuse collection and disposal. "Refuse" was defined as "material rejected as worthless". There was nothing in that definition, or in the regulations, that restricted "refuse" to household refuse.
The argument that the exclusion only applied to local authority vehicles was adding words to the regulations that were not there. It was the activity that was defined, rather than who was using the vehicle. There might have been offences under the domestic hours' rules, but the defendants had not been charged with such breaches.
The magistrates also accepted a submission by Backhouse that 200 corresponding allegations against Clifford Butler, a partner in the firm, were defective in that they did not identify either the driver or the vehicle registration number in respect of each alleged offence.
They ordered that the cost of the defence be paid out of public funds.