Repute is not damaged
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• An international haulier who had been operating without licence authority has been successful in a bid for a licence before North Western Traffic Commissioner Martin Albu.
Jewe!world, of Darwen, Lancs, had applied for a new international licence authorising the operation of one vehicle and one trailer at a Manchester public inquiry.
Director Jeffrey Mercer said that he held all the necessary EC permits.
Mercer admitted that in March his vehicle had not been taxed and said that was due to all his work being on the Continent. The vehicle tax office in Preston advised him to tax the vehicle as private light goods as he was travelling unladen in this country and only coming back to England every so often. However, the company he was working for went out of business and he came back to England to look for new work. He started taking loads from England to Spain and he overlooked the vehicle tax situation. The matter was settled out of court and all the back tax paid.
Mercer said he paid £300 a week to travel from Germany to Italy in tolls, Jewelworld had been operating since October 1991 and he was confident about the future. One vehicle would be sufficient to meet his customers' demands.
An application for a licence was not received until April 1992, said Albu. The position might be confusing but Mercer had been operating without a licence as Jewelworld until interim authority was granted.
Mercer said that at the time Jewelworld had another director. He was out of the country for long periods of time and the other director had assured him that he had applied for an Operator's Licence. There was a dispute and the person concerned was no longer a director.
Granting a licence with a warning, Albu said that offences had been committed but they were not sufficient to affect Mercer's good repute. International haulage was to change rapidly in the next couple of months and he saw no reason to refuse the application.