Appeal fails to shift revocation decision

A Cumbrian operator that had its licence revoked after failing on two separate occasions to demonstrate financial standing has now had an appeal dismissed. Christopher Brown, sole director of Shift-It Groundworks, requested a period of grace from the TC after the financial evidence it provided fell short of the average £8,000 required to operate one vehicle. The request was granted, but on the second occasion, the bank statements revealed an average of £7,291 – a greater shortfall than the first time around. The licence was subsequently revoked, but Brown appealed to the upper tribunal, on the grounds that the TC did not take into account £10,000 of business credit in the form of a Capital-on-Tap credit card it had access to. Brown also claimed it had agreements in place with garages and tyre providers that would enable it to meet its financial liabilities at a later date.

However, the appeal tribunal said the TC could not be faulted for not taking into account “a bare assertion as to the availability of such finance”. It said: “The appellant has twice provided evidence in the form of bank statements for a continuous three-month period but, on each occasion, the evidence did not show available funds, on average, throughout the period. Revocation followed logically from that failure.”