Batley firm banned from putting HGVs on road for two weeks : Find out why here

A BATLEY company has been punished for failing to uphold vehicle maintenance standards and report convictions.

But Birstall Demolition and Plant Services Ltd has been given significant credit by the region’s Traffic Commissioner – and held on to its operator’s licence – after revealing drivers had completed mandatory industry training ahead of the deadline.

At a public inquiry held in Leeds the company’s director, Virginia Walker, said all of her drivers had completed driver CPC training, which the haulage industry is required to undertake by September 2014.

In a written decision issued after the hearing, the North East of England regulator Kevin Rooney said he had been persuaded “by the finest of margins” to allow Ms Walker to keep running HGVs in connection with her plant and demolition business, giving it credit as a small operator for being proactive.

But he cut the firm’s licence from seven vehicles to four indefinitely and applied a two-week suspension, meaning the business will not be able to operate any of its fleet between October 20 and November 2.

During the inquiry, the Traffic Commissioner heard evidence from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), which had visited the operator in April 2012. In his report, a vehicle examiner said the business had an unsatisfactory system for maintaining its fleet, including that vehicles had not been presented on time for routine safety inspections – on eight occasions.

In addition, evidence of prohibitions issued to vehicles was presented, confirming that nine mechanical defect notices had been recorded since the operator’s last appearance at public inquiry in May 2010. On one occasion, the prohibition indicated a significant failure in the company’s maintenance systems.

The Traffic Commissioner also examined the issue of two fixed penalties – one for an overloaded vehicle and one for failing to produce tachograph records recording driver duty – the conviction of a company employee for driving a vehicle with a dangerous tyre and a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive, which resulted in the business being fined £10,000. The director was required to notify the Traffic Commissioner of those convictions but failed to do so.