The owner of a Durham-based scaffolding company has been disqualified from running vehicles for two years as he posed a serious risk to road safety.
Craig Scott, the owner of the Blaydon-on-Tyne scaffolding business, received the ban as a ruling found he had been serially non-compliant – the Traffic Commissioner for North East of England, Tim Blackmore, said he had no evidence whatsoever that Scott would meet safety and licensing standards in the future.
The transport operating licence held by Scott was called to a public inquiry after government inspectors found one his vehicles was being driven without an MoT and untaxed. Scott was driving the vehicle when it was stopped in Newcastle.
He 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.
The industry regulator’s decision, which took immediate effect following a public inquiry in Leeds on 8 November 2017, means Scott can no longer operate HGVs in connection with his scaffolding business.
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 stated 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.”
Ruling that 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.
