A Humberside abattoir company, whose previous O-licence application had been refused, was granted an interim licence when its bid for a fresh licence was adjourned for nine months. Hull-based Graystone had sought a new restricted licence for one vehicle before North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Elizabeth Perrett. The ejection of the company's previous application in December 2005 by Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney had been upheld by the Transport Tribunal.
Appearing for the company, Gary Hodgson said the previous application had been refused because of the use of the vehicle without an O-licence and its poor condition. However, that vehicle had not been used since the Transport Tribunal's decision. Instead the company had been using a Sprinter van and as a result its turnover had fallen by more than 40%.
Director James Graystone had taken a CPC course and the company was a member of the RHA, which had come in and advised it about the systems that should be set up. If the licence was granted the RHA would carry out a systems audit in three months' time. The Sprinter van had been stopped in a roadside check on 21 June and given a prohibition for a defective load sensing valve and a fuel leak. Graystone said that at the time of the previous application he had little involvement in the business as his wife was ill. The other director, his brother Stephen, knew nothing about transport.
The DTC was not prepared to grant a substantive licence because of the company's history she has called for checks to be carried out by vehicle and traffic examiners towards the end of the nine-month period. The TC refrained from finding that McCue was unfit to hold a licence by reason of the arrangement to obtain a restricted licence via an inaccurate reply by his wife and his involvement with Contractor Task.
