No Ban for Sports Journeys • A ' " industrial towns clause". formulated
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to prevent people going to business and on regular shopping expeditions in excursion vehicles. should not apply to journeys to specific sports grounds within a reasonable distance.
This was argued before the North Western Traffic Commissioners at Manchester last week, when Gregory and Richards, Ltd., Oldham, applied to run football excursions to Maine Road and Old Trafford, Manchester.
Mr. H. Backhouse, for the applicants, said that now that the Oldham team were in the Third Division, people wanting to see first-class football had to go into Manchester: None of the objectors, Oldham Corporation, Manchester Corporation, North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., and British Railways, had a direct service from Oldham to the grounds.
Tsv4 Changes Mr. H. Barton, managing director of Gregory and Richards, said people living in the new housing estates on the south side of Oldham, where his company had picking-up points, had two changes to make at present, one in the centre of Oldham, and one in Manchester. There was a steady demand for these matches, and they had operated six times in the 1956-57 season under special dispensation.
Replying to the objectors' submission that, if granted, journeys should be restricted to six times a year under the "industrial towns clause," Mr. Backhouse said it was not in the public interest to allow supporters to be conveyed to six matches and not to the remainder.
Mr. W. Woolley, for the road objectors, said they were concerned about probable loss of traffic. There was a five-minute bus service from Oldham to Manchester, plus a limited-stop service every 15 minutes, with a frequent special football bus service from the city to the grounds. The railways also ran special trains.
a2 Granting the application, the chairman. Mr. F. Williamson, said they regarded such destinations as being covered by the "industrial towns clause," and if any operator challenged it, they would publish a proposal to
vary his licence. In the special circumstances, they would consider whether to grant an extension of the number of journeys allowed, and decision would be reserved on that part of the case.
BUSINESS ACQUISITION
THE business of Messrs. Russell of Bathgate, Bathgate, haulage contractors, has been acquired by Russell of Bathgate. Ltd., 28 Walker Street, Edinburgh. The capital of the company is £100,000 and the directors are W. Russell and John Russell.