Greek trio escape ban after being misled on 0-licences
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Three more Greek operators have had their British
0-licences revoked by Eastern Traffic Commissioner Geoffrey Simms, but they escaped disqualification.
Simms was satisfied that the three had been misled by Nikolaos Koutrouvelis, who advertised in a Greek haulage magazine offering to help Greeks obtain British 0-licences.
lsotrans, with a licence for two vehicles and two trailers, Ostria, with a licence for one vehicle and one trailer, and Kouros Transport, with a licence for two vehicles and two trailers, appeared before the TC at a Cambridge disciplinary inquiry. They were said to operate from Abbots Hall Farm, Horsley Green, In April, the TC revoked the licences of four other Greekowned companies and disqualified them and their directors from holding 0-licences for varying periods (CM 11-17 May).
Traffic examiner Ernest Watson said he had tried to contact all three companies, whose nominated transport manager was Mike Scott. Eventually he was given the name of transport consultant Paul Knowlton, who acknowledged that the UK 0licences were a "flag of convenience" because the companies' directors were unhappy with the Greek licensing system.
Scott said he had been friendly with Knowlton, who had asked him to manage the three companies which he had set up in the UK. From the outset it was difficult to contact the companies, as he had to work either through Knowlton or the Greek agent Koutrouvelis.
Despite repeated requests, he never saw the tachograph records, maintenance records or other documentation. To his knowledge neither the nominated maintenance contractor nor the declared operating centre had ever been used.
Producing Koutrotivelis's adverts, Dimitrios Tzilios, appearing for lsotrans, said
Koutrouveris had put a lot of people in trouble. He had taken a lot of money from the people concerned without making it clear to them what was required, and he was in trouble with the Greek government.
Ostria director Sotiros Katsimichas told the TO that he lived in Greece and the vehicle carried goods from Greece all over Europe. It was driven by his brother, Nichoalas, who also lived in Greece.
Kouros Transport failed to attend the inquiry.
Revoking the licences, the TO said these were clearly Greecebased operations set up to overcome licensing difficulties in their own country. He noted that a common factor was Koutrouvelis' involvement, and he took account of his activities when deciding against disqualification.