Mr. Nelson Losing Patience with Coach Operators
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" I WANT you to understand that we are beginning to lose patience with these applications: I do not understand this nonsense," said Mr. S. W. Nelson, chairman of the Western Licensing Authority, when Messrs. Shergold and White opposed the application by Messrs. S. C. Shergold for a backing for a licence granted in the South Eastern Area.
There were 18 applications, all opposed, from operators anxious to carry week-end traffic from Army camps on Salisbury Plain. When the cases were called, it was revealed that• agreement had been reached in many of them, and in others there were only minor differences of opinion.
A spokesman for Messrs. Shergold and White, who applied for permission' to run an express service from Porton to Swansea, with picking-up points at all the camps on the Plain. said the men preferred a direct coach service to the coach-rail service run by British Railways. That method of travel was also preferred by the authorities, as it caused the men less fatigue and ensured their returning to camp on time.
There were no direct road services to South Wales, and his clients had been approached by several Servicemen who wished to go there on week-end leave.
The railways' objection was of the same nature as before, he said. They suggested nothing new in the way of a better service, and their only new ground was a suggestion that the application was not in accordance with an agreement whereby they shoulck notify each other of applications. However, there was no breach of agreement, as the application had been filed before the agreement was made. Mr. A. C. F. Wyndeatt, for the railways and Wilts and Dorset Motor Services, Ltd.. said that Shcrgold's had not disclosed the application to them, and alleged that they were trying to leap-frog them. The railways and Wilts and Dorset provided good facilities, he maintained.
Mr. Nelson replied that they were not interested in squabbles between operators.
Picking-up points at Chiseldon and Ogbourne were opposed by Mr. C. R. Hughes.
Granting the application, the Authority reserved decision as to whether Shergold's should be granted a picking-up point at Gloucester. as Wilts and Dorset already had express services from Bristol and Cheltenham. Picking-up points at Chiseldon and Ogbourne were refused.