Condition is imposed
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• A condition preventing Nelson-based D B Metcalfe (Coaches), trading as Calder Coaches, from operating any vehicles apart from the ones owned and maintained by another operator, has been imposed on the company's licence by North Western Traffic Commissioner Martin Albu.
Albu has also cut the duration of the licence so that it now expires at the end of next May, and has imposed conditions that mean before the company can operate any of its own vehicles they must have an annual test certificate dated not earlier than 26 May. Vehicles of 45 seats or more must also be regularly inspected by an outside agency. Vehicle examiner Robert Stewart said he had visited the company in November and December after an anonymous complaint about the alleged use of dangerous vehicles. He inspected two vehicles and imposed immediate prohibition notices.
Stewart said that five Calder vehicles stopped in a police check in Burnley in February were brought to the test station, where four were immediately prohibited and one was given a delayed prohibition. Due to the severity of the defects found, a check was made to see when each vehicle was last inspected. The dates on the inspection records varied between 12 January and 2 February. These records did not reflect the true condition of the vehicles in service. For the company, John Backhouse said that two of the vehicles inspected by the police were on hire from Hyndburn Transport, which was responsible for their maintenance.
Albu said it was the second time the company had been called to a public inquiry over the condition of its vehicles, the duration of the licence having been cut in 1988. The licence was subsequently renewed, but the condition of the vehicles had deteriorated since.