Levy May be Added to Contract Charge
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TN the Chancery Division, last week, 1 Mr. Justice Danckwerts held that under a contract between W. W. Drinkwater (Willesden), Ltd., and Hammersmith Borough Council for the disposal of household and trade refuse by Drinkwaters, the transport levy should be taken intet account in calculating the charge.
The company claimed that the cost of the levy should be added to the remuneration they received under their .contract,
It was claimed by the council that the levy was not a tax at all. Secondly, that if it was, it was not a tax which was within the contemplation of the parties when the contract was entered into and, therefore, was not subject to the provisions of the contract.
it was obvious, said Mr. Justice Danckwerts, that the parties had in mind all the expenses which the contr4tors would have to meet and they were including the duties or exactions which the contractors had to pay to keep their vehicles licensed.
His lordship said that the whole object was to ensure fair remuneration for the contractors in carrying out their obligations. The contention of the council was completely devoid of merit and legal force, The questions were whether the levy was a tax within the meaning of the w rd as used . by the parties to the co tract and whether it was a kind of im sition they had in mind when they entered into the bargain. His lordship anSwered both in the affirmative.
There would be a declaration accordingly and Drinkwaters were entitled to the costs of the application.
U.S.A.F. LAUNCH AIRCRAFT FROM TRAILERS
, ET another use for mechanical road 1 transport in time of war has been devised, this'time by the United States Air Force. The U.S.A.F. announced last week that it had launched F.84 Thunderjet fighter aeroplanes from "zero-length" platforms mounted on trailers during tests in California. The equipment comprises a launching platform 39 ft. long and weighing slightly more than 15 tons, mounted on a long trailer, a 5-ton tractor, and a 20ton crane mounted on another lorry.
SCOTTISH ANOMALY TO END
PAM/MONS which make it compulsory in Scotland, but not England and Wales, for the name and address of the owner of a commercial vehicle to be painted on the near side, are to be repealed by the Road Traffic Bill, 1954. The provisions are Section 381 (50) of the Burgh Police Scotland At, 1892, and Section 123 of the Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act, 1878. For a number of years the Traders' Road Transport Association have pressed for this reform.