Removal company with 'shocking' vehicles and 'appalling' MOT record loses licence

Clentons Removals, which has held a goods vehicle operator's licence in Walsall for 20 years, also had no system in place to check that its drivers were working within road safety rules.

Investigations also revealed that two of the firm's employees had committed drivers' hours offences, with one continuing to do so months after the issues had been brought to light.

The decision to revoke the licence by Government Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney comes after a public inquiry in Birmingham.

The Traffic Commissioner was told that employee Stuart Scrivens had driven using another person's card – that of the transport manager, Brett Perry.

Mr Perry also acted as a director of the firm.

Mr Rooney said the amount of driving undertaken by Stuart Scrivens whilst using the card of Mr Perry was 'plainly dangerous'.

The Commissioner added that it was highly likely Mr Scrivens would have suffered from fatigue after driving for 18 hours out of 24 on one occasion and 15 hours out of 19 on another.

Another driver, Andrew Perry, continued to commit drivers hours offences through July, August, September and October last year, despite the fact he had already been interviewed for earlier abuses.

Mr Rooney also heard evidence about the roadworthiness of the company's vehicles.

Routine vehicle safety inspections were not carried out on regular occasions and the firm's MOT record was considered 'appalling'.

The Traffic Commissioner described one vehicle encountered last year as 'quite shocking'.

He said the state of the vehicle clearly identified fundamental failures in the firm's maintenance systems.

Additionally, there was no driver defect reporting procedure in place and Brett Perry was not aware of the requirement to hold a driver certificate of professional competence.

Mr Rooney said: "Transport manager, Brett Perry, was not aware of the requirement to hold a driver CPC (Driver Certificate of Professional Competence). He told me that he believed his own CPC as a transport manager was adequate. I note recent press coverage that 99 per cent of drivers stopped in roadside checks complied with the driver CPC requirement.

"It is therefore unforgivable that a transport manager, who provides professional competence to an international licence, was unaware of the requirement."

Ruling that the company had failed to satisfy the mandatory requirements of financial standing and professional competence, Mr Rooney made an order to revoke the licence with effect from February 20.

He also disqualified Brett Perry from holding or obtaining an operator's licence for three months from the same date.

In addition, Mr Perry was disqualified from acting as a transport manager, until he has passes the transport manager CPC qualification again.

He also received a warning against his professional driving licence for the offence of driving without the driver CPC qualification.