OAP service granted despite Ribble objection
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• At a public sitting in Newcastle last week the chairman of the Northern Traffic Commissioners, Mr J. A. T. Hanlon, granted an application to Mr Fred Braithwaite, a Tebay garage proprietor, who runs a "cut price shopping service" between Kirkby Stephen and Kendal despite an objection by Ribble Motor Services Ltd.
Mr Braithwaite was applying for an express licence to authorize a service, running only on Fridays mainly for old-age pensioners and with a much lower fare scale than that of Ribble.
Representing Ribble, Mr N. Smith told the Commissioners that the proposed service would partially cover some Ribble routes and he added that the Appleby to Kendal service was already subsidized by Westmorland county council. The proposed service, he stated, would lead to passenger abstraction and a higher subsidy would be required.
It was heard that the single fare to be charged by Mr Braithwaite between Tebay and Kendal would be only 15p compared with 23p charged by Ribble.
On deciding to grant a licence for one year Mr Hanlon said he felt that Ribble should receive some protection and therefore made the proviso that only return tickets should be available on the shopping service. He added "if people choose to use the return as singles for their own convenience they can consider them as a special taxi fare".