Workers' "Frolic" with Dumper Costs £23
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DECAUSE a workman drove a dumper off a building site to a coffee stall half a mile away, McCarthy E. Fitt, Ltd., building contractors, Reading, were fined a total of £20 with E3 3s. costs, by Reading Magistrates, last week. The company denied using the dumper on the highway without an Excise licence: without insurance and with an unlicensed driver.
Mr. W. H. Tee, prosecuting, said a policeman saw the dumper being driven away from the coffee stall with two men in the scoop behind the driver. There was no question of the vehicle being used for road construction work, so it needed insurance, an Excise licence and a qualified driver.
Hugh Edward Newton, a director of the company, claimed that the three men were enjoying an unofficial tea break, and were "on a frolic of their own." The dumper had been taken to the site by lorry and the men had no authority from the company to drive it on a road.
The chairman, Capt. 0. S. Francis, said employers-were responsible for the actions of their workers. The company were fined £10 for the insurance offence, and £5 on each of the other two counts. The driver was fined fl for having no licence, and £5 for driving uninsured. .
NEW WEATHER SERVICE
rlsA NEW service for drivers, giving telephone reports of road conditions in bad weather, starts today. The service uses reports compiled by the Automobile Association and recorded by the General Post Office, and will be available in seven centres.
In London. Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool drivers should dial Ask 6611. In Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cardiff they should dial 938.