R.A.F. Traffi c Restricted
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"ONDIT1ONS of a licence for excurs-, sions and tours which permitted 'Jasper Bros. (Heath Hayes), Ltd., 7,annock, to carry R.A.F. personnel rom Hednesford to London, have been 'aried by the West Midland Licensing kuthority to restrict this traffic. This !love, which was made at the Authoity's own instigation, was supported ly M. A. and C. J. Wheeldon, Ltd., and . H. Austin and Sons, Ltd.
At the inquiry the Authority, Mr. V. P. James, said that it was "a very .nusual case."
The tour concerned was one of a roup held by Harper Bros. since 1934. arlier this year, Harpers and Wheelons had both been refused an express cence to carry R.A.F. personnel from lednesford to London on week-end ;ave. Since then, Harpers had been sing their tour licence to carry R.A.F. ten.
"it seems to the Licensing Authoty that the use of the existing tours cence to carry R.A.F. personnel is Tong, and it is more than reasonable tat the firm should be given notice tat the licence be varied," said Mr. tines. Mr. J. R. Else, for Wheeldons, submitted that if Harper Brcis. had been dissatisfied with the refusal of a licence for an express service from the camp, they should have appealed.
Mr. K. Mynett, for Harper Bros., claimed that it was wrong to ban R.A.F. personnel from using the service, and a limitation on the number of times a year on which the company were allowed to operate would meet the need. "ft is fundamentally wrong to impose on any licence a condition whereby oertain sections of the community are forbidden to travel at all," said Mr. Mynett. "Public transport must be freely available to persons who offer themselves to travel.
"Such a restriction as is now planned would be contrary to the law. We have not the right to exclude R.A.F. personnel, and if we did we should be liable to action by them," Mr. Mynett declared.
The Authority, who announced his decision last Friday, has restricted the licence to eight week-end tours a year. The operators are, however, free to run tours as .frequently as they wish on days other than Saturdays.