Eastern European Freight retains licence despite excise convictions
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• North Western Deputy Licensing Authority Kenneth Birchall took no action against Eastern European Freight's licence after hearing that the company is now paying the full rate of excise duty on its vehicles.
The Heywood-based company, which holds an international licence for four vehicles and five trailers, was convicted at Todmorden in February 1986 of using a vehicle when a higher rate of duty was payable. Two months later it was convicted by the Manchester City Magistrates of seven similar offences and four offences of using a vehicle without an excise licence.
Director Peter Lake said the company does not undertake any UK work and it had misunderstood the regulations. Its vehicles are only in the UK for one or two days a month and it had not appreciated that a clause in the Act to the effect that if a vehicle was abroad for one day in a month road tax was not payable for that month had never been brought into effect. It felt strongly that as it pays up to 200 in continental road tolls on every trip it is being penalised by having to pay the full road tax. Nonetheless every vehicle was now taxed at the full rate and had been since the convictions.