The owner of a Blaydon-on-Tyne scaffolding business has lost his transport licence and been disqualified from running vehicles for two years because he posed a “serious risk to road safety”.
Ruling that Craig Scott had been serially non compliant, the Traffic Commissioner for North East of England, Tim Blackmore, said he had no evidence whatsoever that Mr Scott would meet safety and licensing standards in the future.
The industry regulator’s decision, which took immediate effect following a public inquiry in Leeds on 08 November 2017, means Mr Scott can no longer operate HGVs in connection with his scaffolding business.
Mr Scott did not attend the hearing and had allowed his licence to lapse in October 2017.
“Trust in this operator is broken,” the Traffic Commissioner remarked in a written decision.
“I am clear that he has neither the knowledge or desire to comply in the future; this strikes at the heart of the principles of road safety and fair competition on which the Operator Licensing System is founded.”
The transport operating licence held by Mr Scott was called to a public inquiry after government inspectors found one his vehicles was bring driven without an MOT and untaxed. Mr Scott was driving the vehicle when it was stopped in Newcastle.
Mr Scott subsequently failed to cooperate with a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) examiner investigating the illegal operations, twice failing to make himself available for interview.
Records available to the enforcement agency also revealed that the vehicle stopped in Newcastle had failed its previous MOT because of a number of brake related faults.
Ruling that Mr Scott posed a serious risk to road safety, the Traffic Commissioner said he needed time outside of the industry to educate himself on operator licensing responsibilities.
