Couple behind Oswestry waste disposal business banned from holding operator's licence
A Shropshire business couple have had their vehicle operator's licence revoked after what traffic commissioners called a "grotesque" failure to abide by its requirements.
A waste disposal vehicle operated by Michael John Philbin and Rachael Philbin of Weston Farm, Oswestry, had no MOT, serious maintenance failures and no tachograph records.
Mr Philbin's restricted goods vehicle operator's licence was revoked in a Traffic Commissioner's hearing and he and Rachael Philbin were disqualified indefinitely, from holding or obtaining any type of operator's licence.
At the public inquiry held in Birmingham, traffic commissioner Nicholas Denton was told that Mr Philbin held a restricted goods vehicle operator's licence for three vehicles for MJP Recycling Ltd, with an operating centre at Weston Farm, Oswestry. The licence was granted in 2005.
Mr Denton said he had received reports from DVSA vehicle examiner Dyfrig Williams and traffic examiner Marianne Hyde.
They said one of the vehicles had been given an S-marked prohibition, denoting a serious failure of maintenance, on August 3, 2017, after a tyre blow-out had damaged the rear stop and indicator lights. Yet after changing the tyre the driver continued to drive the vehicle.
The driver did not possess the necessary C category to drive the vehicle and was not using a tachograph.
Mrs Philbin told the public inquiry that she was responsible for the operation while her husband was ill and had not realised that tachographs were needed on 7.5 tonne vehicles.
The traffic commissioner said Mrs Philbin had maintained one vehicle which was used only for private business, yet he said Veolia gave evidence that it had collected waste from one of its sites on six occasions in October 2017.
Mr Denton said Mr Philbin had applied to surrender his licence late last year.
"Owing to the serious issues identified by the DVSA's report I decided not to accept the surrender but to call the operator to a public inquiry," he added.
He said the operator had failed to fulfil its undertakings to keep vehicles fit and serviceable, to retain maintenance records for 15 months, to ensure drivers' hours and tachograph rules were observed and to ensure the lawful operating and driving of vehicles.
"Given the operator's grotesque failure to abide by so many of the requirements relating to the safe and lawful operation of vehicles, revocation of the licence is inevitable," he said.
Mr Philbin was, he said free to request a hearing to argue for a time limit on the disqualification.
"I do not envisage that period could be reduced to below five years," he said.
He said Mrs Philbin's untruthfulness and failure to comply with even the most basic requirements of HGV operation made the operator unfit to hold a licence.
