Court stalls on hours
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• The confusion over UK drivers' hours rules led a court to adjourn a case last week until the law is clarified by the European Court of Justice (CM 23-29 Jan).
In a move likely to be copied elsewhere, Clitheroe magistrates told AF Transport that it could not rule on its case. The court said it would have to be adjourned until the promised ruling on driving hours interpretation by the Luxembourg court in the spring.
The company had pleaded not guilty to three offences of per mitting a driver to exceed 41 hours driving without a 45minute break.
John Backhouse, defending, said that if the court had dealt with the prosecution according to the usual ' wipe-the-slateclean' interpretation the company would not have been guilty of breaking the law.
But the police had chosen to bring their case under the stricter 'rolling programme' interpretation.
This month an hours case involving two hauliers was referred to Luxembourg.