Nick Denton, Traffic Commissioner (TC) for London and the South East, has refused construction firm Lenmark Construction an O-licence after describing the company as having put “commercial considerations before vehicle safety”.
During an August public inquiry in Eastbourne, the TC heard how a vehicle operated by the Horsham-based firm was stopped at the roadside by Vosa traffic examiner Neil Rossiter in April 2012 without a valid licence disc or valid MoT certificate.
The driver, who was carrying a load of hot tarmac, confirmed he was working for the company on that day.
Rossiter issued a notice prohibiting the vehicle from continuing its journey, however, after taking instructions over the phone from Malta-based director Leonard Nugent, the driver drove off, breaching the order.
The driver later claimed Nugent told him the vehicle did have a valid MoT and that the tarmac could not go to waste.
Rossiter also downloaded the head and driver card from the vehicle’s digital tachograph, but found that there was no paper in the head.
He said the driver admitted that he did not have a new roll and that the company had not downloaded the head or his driver’s card since at least January even though he had requested that it be done.
At the public inquiry, TC Denton was told how Nugent’s predecessor company, Nugent Construction, had entered voluntary liquidation in November 2011.
This company had held an O-licence, but Nugent failed to surrender it to the TC after liquidation, as he should have done.
Lenmark applied for a restricted licence to operate one vehicle in December 2011.
In his evidence to the TC, Nugent claimed he was 100% sure the vehicle had an MoT certificate, though he admitted he had not asked to see a copy when he purchased the vehicle earlier in the year.
He also explained to that the business had shrunk in recent times and this had led to some things being overlooked, including on the transport side.
However, in his written decision TC Denton said responsible operators would have asked to see the certificate, or interrogated Vosa’s website to establish whether the vehicle had an MoT.
He added: "Even when the vehicle had been prohibited, Mr Nugent, in the face of all the evidence, clung to his groundless conviction that the vehicle had a valid MoT.
“He chose to order the driver to continue the journey, putting commercial considerations before safety and legality.”
Quite apart from the obvious that the driver hadn’t (or maybe he had) checked the legality of the truck including tax disc (a deffo no-no) or roll of paper in tacho maybe you would go to some lengths to establish the validity of the MoT as usually (mainly cars) without tax ain’t got no MoT or Insurance either! However, anyone taking out an untaxed vehicle would be unlikely to go to any trouble checking. With an immediate prohibition would you drive away if you had a load of Tarmac or say conctete? 
Another cowboy bites the dust! 