1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152 
DTC holds operating centre to be suitable
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE CONGLETON, Cheshire operating centre of HI Lea Oakes was ruled to he suitable after North-Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hinchliffe refused to allow two local residents to give evidence at a licence review.
The firm had been called before the DTC at the five-yearly licence review stage following a series of complaints, including one from Thomas Byrne, whose 12-year-old son was by an artic reversing out of an associated company's mill in 1999.
Hi Lea Oakes holds a licence for 36 vehicles and 15 trailers, six of which are based at Biddulph Road, Congleton. In February 2002, the NorthWestern TC Beverley Bell revoked the firm's licence, a decision the Transport Tribunal overturned on appeal in July 2002.
At a public inquiry in 2004, a condition was imposed on the licence that vehicles would enter and leave the operating centre in forward gear.
For the company, Mark Laprell pointed out that the present case was about vehicle movements from a mill operated by Oakes Millers, which was not the operating centre. None of the 67 instances of reversing involved HJ Lea Oakes vehicles. For Byrne, Leslie Thomas said the death of his son involved a vehicle reversing without a banksman. He maintained that the operating centre and the mill, which were 200 yards apart, were run by the same people, and that reversing vehicles were still creating a danger.
The DTC said he was concerned about road safety where the private access road from the operating centre met the public highway. He found nothing of relevance in the complaints, which related to a place that was not an operating centre and to vehicles that were not authorised vehicles.