• Greater Manchester Buses has won a legal row with
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
John Whitehead, trading as Sports Tours of Littleborough, over local services in the Rochdale area.
North Western Traffic Commissioner Roy Hutchings has attached conditions to Whitehead's PSV licence preventing him operating three local services.
Following a contractual dispute both companies were awarded contracts by Greater Manchester PTE to operate three services over the same routes at the same time.
Hutchings had considered imposing conditions on the licences of both operators preventing the operation of their services on the grounds that they had not been operated as registered and additionally, in the case of Greater Manchester Buses, on the grounds they had deliberately interfered with Whitehead's services.
Greater Manchester Buses had failed to operate the services as registered, said Hutchings in his decision, but this was during a period of reorganisation and upset. Though he did not propose to impose conditions on its licence, he expected that in future Greater Manchester Buses would ensure it had the resources to operate any service before it was registered. He did not find that there was an attempt by GMB to interfere with Whitehead's services.
Hutchings found that Whitehead had failed to operate the services as registered without reasonable excuse. When the contractual problem arose it was open to Whitehead to have applied to vary or cancel the operations.
Hutchings decided not to make a decision in either case which would have led to the operator concerned having to repay 20% of the fuel rebate grant received in the previous three months, said to amount to a sum of £270,000 in the case of GMB.
He warned, however, that should there be intentional interference with the services of another operator at any time, or any attempt to run another operator off the road, he would take action under Section 111 of the 1985 Act.