Used Petrol in Oil Engines, Court Told
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THE case against a Scottish bus pro. prietor accused of avoiding £1,482, duty on oil fuel was adjourned at Alloa on Monday. The operator, George Gray, Clackmannan, who runs Scots Grays Coaches, denied the charge,which related to 10,700 gallons of. heavy oil used by him between October 16, 1956, and October 11, 1957. He pleaded not guilty to further charges of failing to keep accounts in the prescribed manner, and obstructing and hindering two Customs and Excise officers by failing to produce records or allow them on his premises. An alternative charge was failing to produce to the officers stock books and records. The Commercial Motor featured in the evidence last Friday, the first day of the case. Mr. R. B. Bennett, for Gray, asked Harold Dodsworth Craven, a Ministry of Transport vehicle examiner, whether he knew that a report in this journal had stated that an Albion Chieftain, although an oil-engined vehicle, could be run on 65 per cent. petrol. Mr. Craven said he could not answer definitely, but he thought the proportion of petrol would need to be smaller. He and another vehicle examiner, Edward William Price, maintained tilht when they visited Gray's depot in November, 1957, all the buses had normal oil engines. They saw no signs of modifications. Mr. Edward Brian Stead, technical manager for Albion Motors, Ltd., Glasgow, said oil .engines would run successfully on a 50-50 mixture with minor modifications. He recalled that the information in The Commercial Motor resulted from experiments carried out by his company during the Suez crisis. He told Mr. Bennett that he did not know that Gray's son had been a leading apprentice in Albion's technical department, and that it was through him that Gray had acquired the technical knowledge to make modifications. Peter Carden, of Messrs. D. Y. Carden, Dunfermline, said 10,700 gallons of dutyfree oil were supplied to Gray at a cost of £748 14s. 4d. He understood Gray to be public works contractor.
The case will be resumed on February 20.