School bus in 'deplorable condition
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£217 fine imposed
• A Dewsbury firm, C. Bartle (Transport) Ltd, of Empire House, admitted 27 offences relating mainly to defects on three buses and was fined a total of £217 at Wakefield magistrates' court on Monday. In addition three drivers were fined a total of £131 for 26 offences.
Mr S. L. Skellern, prosecuting, said that a bus owned by the company was found to be in a dangerous condition after unloading 35 children between the ages of seven and 11 years at St Austin's RC school, Wakefield. Two other school buses owned by the same firm were checked the same day and were described as being in a "deplorable and dangerous condition". Mr Skellern said of the Roman Catholic school bus that, because the rear lock of the gangway trap door, under which was the propellor shaft, was unfastened it could be lifted out of position. Another trap door had neither of the locks fastened and the outside lock handle was missing from the rear emergency door.
Mr H. Ognall, defending, said the company had not been recklessly indifferent to passenger safety nor had it sought deliberately to flout regulations by doing things on the cheap. In the past three years it had spent £8722 on maintenance, which was undertaken by outside garages. Vehicles had been sent as far away as Leicestershire but, said Mr Ognall, there was still the same sorry tale of incompetence, non-delivery of spare parts and shoddy workmanship.