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A WORD IN TIME?
Page 41
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"I DON'T think I've ever heard a worse description of a fleet this size," said North Western LA, Mr. C. R. Hodgson after he had heard the case against R. Warburton and. Sons Ltd. (trading as the Palatine Mineral Water Co., Wigan) at Liverpool last week. No representative of the company attended this Section 178 inquiry.
Mr. A Jackson, MoT vehicle examiner, Burnley, said that on April 29 1966 he had issued an immediate prohibition on a vehicle in the Warburton fleet; both its handbrake and footbrake were ineffective, the steering was loose, the front springs broken and one of the front tyres was in danger of bursting. There was no apparent system of maintenance in operation and the vehicles seemed never to have been greased. After further descriptions of vehicles for which GV9s had been issued by Mr. Jackson, a vehicle examiner from Wigan told of the result of his inspecting a Warburton vehicle on January 17 1967 during a fleet check. A 1951 Austin van had been jacked up and the footbrake applied; the wheel had still turned freely. Even the application of the handbrake would not lock the wheel.
The examiner had then asked Mr. Warburton to ensure that his vehicles received regular maintenance. After a later fleet check, however, he had found it necessary to issue further prohibitions.
"Subject to what he (Mr. Warburton) has to say," concluded Mr. Hodgson, "and what he can say I can't imagine—he is in for a great deal of trouble."