Operated out of time
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Breaches of a lime condition on the licence held by Bo'ness-based Central Scotland Recycling have led to licence revocation and the disqualification of the company and its sole director Robert McDonald from holding an 0licence for three months. The company, which held a licence for 12 vehicles, appeared before Scottish Traffic Commissioner Michael Betts at an Edinburgh disciplinary inquiry. Traffic examiner Michael Reynolds said that following a complaint from a resident, he had examined the company's tachograph charts. They revealed that between 20 February and the end of April there were 40 occasions when vehicles left before 07:00hrs, even as early as 04:00hrs, in breach of the time condition on the licence.
McDonald said the operating centre lay in an industrial area and the road past the complainant's house was busy. The early morning departures were necessitated by the requirements of one customer particularly, which specified when vehicles had to be at its premises.
The vehicle was always loaded the night before and parked as far away as possible from the houses. It left by the gate furthest away from the complainant's house. He agreed with the Commissioner that the early morning departures were still continuing, saying that business dictated it.
For the company, Michael Whiteford said there was no evidence the early morning departures were causing adverse environmental effects.
Revoking the licence, and making the disqualification orders, the Commissioner said it was one of the most blatant examples of disregard for the 0-licensing rules that he had come across. McDonald had deliberately chosen to ignore the environmental conditions on the company's licence. His concern was the blatant, indeed arrogant, way in which the company ignored the movement condition because of business demands. And he had not taken any steps to seek amendment. He could not tolerate such contempt for the 0-licensing laws. ••••