London driver now Welsh fleet owner
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• The South Wales Traffic Commissioners have granted a full licence to Mr Peter Smith to operate his own bus service on routes between Ammanford, Hopkinstown and Garnswllt, formerly run by South Wales Transport Co. Mr Smith, a former employee of the company, told the Commissioners he had decided to run his own transport fleet when SWT announced its intention to withdraw from the route. He was at that time the only applicant for a temporary licence and, after buying two buses, began operating the day after SWT services ended. The Commissioners were told that without Mr Smith's services GarnswIlt would have been completely isolated and its inhabitants left without any service at all. Mr S. Patel, clerk to Pontardawe rural council, added that the local authority wholeheartedly supported Mr Smith's application.
A Londoner, Mr Smith moved to South Wales and took a job as bus driver with SWT. He had left the company because he feared he would be made redundent when certain rural bus services were abandoned. He told the Commissioners he now had a third vehicle on order, and, since starting his services through the villages, had received dozens of letters of appreciation from members of the public.
At the same sitting the Commissioners also granted a licence to a Brynamman bus operator to fill another gap left by SWT service withdrawal. Mr Gareth Evans was authorized to operate work bus services from Cwmilynfell to Ammanford and from Tairgwaith to Ammanford.