Remover Told to Bring Witnesses
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APPLYING for a wider radius for (A removals, Mr. P. Norris, Ormskirk, said at Liverpool on Tuesday that unless the application were granted he would have to give up his business because he could not make a living with
the present B-licence conditions. He pointed out that the only other furniture remover in Ormskirk could not cope with all the work being offered, so removals were now being done on open C-licence vehicles.
Mr. Norris wanted to extend the radius for new and used furniture for a named customer from 12 to 100 miles, and for removals from four to 100 miles. There were objections from British Railways, Walter Carter (Harrods), Ltd., John Thompson and Sons, and B.R.S. (Pickfords), Ltd.
In evidence, Mr. Norris said one of his original customers had closed down his Ormskirk branch and others had bought their own vehicles. His only vehicle, a Luton van with a capacity of 1,300 Cu. ft., was working one day a week for Broadman's House Furnishers, who were now willing to employ him over longer distances. He was compelled to refuse four or five removals a week because they were outside his permitted radius. Recent requests had been for work which would have taken him to Scunthorpe, Huddersfield and Wrexham.
For the B.T.C., Mr. G. P. H. Beames submitted that although Mr. Norris' local work had collapsed, there was no evidence of need for a wider radius. Mr. J. Hull, for Walter "Carter's, said they operated extensively in Ormskirk, and any grant would be a direct encroachment on work they were able to do.
Mr. J. R. Lindsay, North Western lAputy Licensing Authority, said witnesses would be required to prove the need for removals, and a representative of Broadman's should have been produced. Mr. Norris replied that it was impossible to bring removal witnesses.
The hearing was adjourned to enable him to produce witnesses.
CONVOY TALKS REFUSED
A PROPOSAL by Oxfordshire Standing 1-1 Joint Committee on road safety that there should be high-level discussions on the dangers caused by heavy goods vehicles and coaches travelling in convoy has been rejected by the Minister of Transport.
The Minister says that there would be no advantage in discussing the matter without further evidence that the problems which arose on roads in the county were different from those occurring on other roads in the country. He did not think that a national campaign aimed at heavy-vehicle drivers was justified. These men were among the most highly skilled professional drivers.
An offer was made by the Minister to reconsider a more limited approach to individual operators, if specific information about vehicles belonging to particular companies were provided.