A waste haulier operated for a decade without a waste transfer licence and regularly used an HGV without an MoT, a public inquiry (PI) heard.
M&M Waste near Wednesbury appeared at a Birmingham PI after the DVSA discovered a range of maintenance failings at the firm.
Director Mark Elwell tried to play down the use of one of the company’s lorries while out of MoT, claiming that it had been used on a limited number of occasions, road testing in an empty condition and for occasional private use.
However, a vehicle examiner intervened and pointed to ANPR records, which showed the truck had been sighted on roads on 113 occasions, on 39 different days over a two-month period.
Making a decision to revoke the operator’s licence, traffic commissioner (TC) Nick Denton said there was no excuse for using a vehicle that was out of MoT.
He said M&M had also failed to keep vehicles fit and roadworthy; it had not carried out roller brake tests; and, despite working in the waste transfer sector, it did not have the necessary transfer licence:
“I attach significant weight to the fact that the company has operated a vehicle without MoT and that it sought to conceal that fact by pretending that the vehicle had only been used in a very limited way for road tests and some private work,” the TC said.
He also decided that, given the level and duration of non-compliance, Elwell and fellow director Lee Morris should be disqualified for 18 months.
