Higtidown escapes cuts
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• A Staffordshire company escaped with a warning at a disciplinary inquiry although it had collected two immediate prohibition notices since being granted a licence in March.
The hearing of the case in Birmingham against Newcastleunder-Lyme-based Highdown had been adjourned for seven days because West Midland Deputy Traffic Commissioner Alan Cattell wanted its transport manager and director Suzanne O'Connor to appear before him (CM 17-23 Sept).
The DTC was told that a vehicle examiner had been called by the police to investigate one of the company's vehicles which had been involved in an accident within a week of the licence being granted.
The examiner imposed an immediate prohibition for a significant maintenance failure. When he visited the company a few days later he inspected another vehicle and issued it with
an immediate prohibition.
O'Connor said they were now only operating two vehicles and the other two were being scrapped. The two operational vehicles had both recently passed annual tests. Her husband was now a director of the company and would be responsible for maintenance.
She undertook to ensure that the vehicles were inspected at the stated intervals and the driver defect reporting system was properly operating.