Hefty fines in PSV case
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• The unauthorised use of a minibus to carry children to a special school on behalf of Humberside County Council has cost ABC Taxis boss Yvonne Stowe and one of her drivers £1,030 in fines and costs.
Scunthorpe Magistrates fined driver Gordon Mackenzie £230 with £100 costs after he admitted driving the minibus without a PSV driving licence or insurance.
Stowe, of Ashby, Scunthorpe, pleaded guilty to employing Mackenzie to drive when not the holder of a PSV driving licence, and to using the minibus without an operator's licence, insurance, Certificate of Initial Fitness or test certificate. She was fined £600 with 2100 costs.
The offences came to light after the vehicle was stopped in a check.
Defending, Robert Hoist said that the minibus had only been in Stowe's possession for 14 days: the contract was usually carried out using a minibus with fewer than eight seats. The offending vehicle was only used when the other minibus was in for repair.
Prior to using it the company had asked the police for advice and was told that, provided it did not collect money from passengers during the journey, the vehicle would not be regarded as a public service vehicle.
Taxis would have been used if the company had been told that use of the minibus was unlawful, said Hoist.
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