Depot row in Hull
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• Operators will no longer be allowed to specify only part of their premises as operating centres, following a ruling in Humberside this week.
North Eastern Deputy Licensing Authority Norman Moody refused to renew the one-vehicle licence held by Humberside Pallet Repair on the grounds that its operating centre was unsuitable — despite his decision that the site was suitable for maintenance and storing vehicles.
Evidence was given that the nominated operating centre at 68-70 Durham Street, Hull was a warehouse where the vehicle was kept when not in use, but the company also owned 72 Durham Street, in front of which was an open yard used for storing pallets, as well as 64 Durham Street, which also had an open yard for storing and manufacturing of pallets.
The company's application for a licence renewal had been opposed by Hull City Council and 18 local residents. There was evidence that the vehicle was loaded and unloaded in Durham Street and Moody ruled that this practice caused danger to the public.
In his decision, Moody said that the meaning of the word "centre" was the centre from which the vehicles were to be operated. When a vehicle was not in use it was not operating, he said, but it was operating when it was being loaded, driven or maintained. To say that a vehicle's operating centre was the place in which it rested when it was not operating was absurd, he said.
Because there was insufficient room in the warehouse for the vehicle to be loaded and loading had to be done in the street, Moody said he was not satisfied that the company had a suitable operating centre.