Seasonal goodwill in court
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• The spirit of Christmas was obviously present, observed Mr. C. R. Hodgson, the North Western Licensing Authority in Manchester at his final goods inquiry before December 25. There had been three objectors to a variation application by B. J. and E. Murphy, of Sale, but following a reduction in operating radius, agreement was reached.
For the applicant, Mr. G. H. P. Beames said among other conditions, Murphy could carry odd items of furniture (excluding complete or part household removals) and now wished to carry furniture and household effects, as required. This, he felt, was a forlorn hope but suggested a compromise at a 15-mile radius.
Pickfords Ltd. were concerned that this variation would have the effect of removing the exclusion from the licence, said Mr. J. S. Lawton for that company, but it would not be over _concerned if the radius was limited as suggested.
Mrs. B. J. Murphy explained that she and her husband also had a secondhand furniture shop and it was those customers who re quested removals of the rest of their household when selling off old furniture prior to moving to a new home. The capacity of the van was limited, being 31 tons unladen, and only the smaller local removals were involved.
Regular work for some Manchester auction rooms had recently been lost due to the new manager wishing to deal with only one large carrier and their vehicle's earnings had dropped to £1,700 for the period September 1967 to November 1968, as compared with over £2,000 for the previous year, she said.
The LA pointed out that J. Ravenscroft and Sons Ltd., of Levenshulme, must be 8 miles from the applicant's base and Barlows (Prestwich) Ltd. over 14, so he felt that those two objectors would not be affected if he restricted the radius to 10 miles. For those two firms, Mr. S. Moss agreed that in view of the likely changes which would come about with the new Transport Act, his clients did not wish to be unnecessarily obstructive and would agree to the LA's ,suggestion. It was accordingly granted.