Licence bid refused in 'bizarre' case
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• North Eastern Deputy LA Brian
Horner has refused to grant a licence to MC Garages (Barnsley), trading as Majestic Transport, and called its record "disgraceful".
MC Garages, of Darton, applied for a new national licence for five vehicles following the liquidation of its predecessor, Deemelk, in March 1993.
DOT vehicle examiner Anthony Fielding said he examined three vehicles in August and imposed immediate prohibitions on all three.
A rear light cluster had been
repositioned by the company's staff and the direction indicators were obscured by a rear cross member, he said. The other two vehicles had defective parking brakes and cracked chassis. One vehicle had to be retested on numerous occasions. There were massive gaps between inspections and the vehicles were receiving oil changes and little else. It was potentially an extremely dangerous situation.
Director Ian Cawthorne said that the other directors of MC Garages were his wife and mother. His father, Malcolm Cawthorne, had suffered a near nervous breakdown. His father
had never got on with authority but was no longer involved in the business. "My father is a difficult man to say no to—I have now learnt to do that," he said.
Horner said he had never come across a more bizarre set of circumstances He granted a new PCV operator's licence, but for four vehicles and not the eight asked for, and for 12 months only, after hearing that only one of three coaches inspected had been prohibited. "I say to the company, get the PCV operation right," he said, "and then apply for a goods vehicle licence when you are absolutely sure you can operate that number of vehicles properly."