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Traffic commissioner Beverley Bell is to probe the business affairs of Lancashire haulier Ronald Hennessy, who was once jailed for smuggling drugs. She is querying the sale of Hennessy Transport (North West) Ltd, now called Alba Logistics and Transport and a new licence application for Hennessy Transport Ltd for ten trucks and ten trailers. Hennessy Transport would trade from the same operating centre in Bolton as the other firm.

Hennessy said that debts mounted at Hennessy (North West)  over the past 12 months. One customer had gone into liquidation and it had lost work at another when the customer imported 30 drivers from Poland. He said that Ian Manson, the current director of Alba, took over the business, apart from an animal by-products contract, and all the rolling stock. Manson does the offal contract until the new company's licence is granted, Hennessy said.

If his licence is granted, he would want to grow to seven vehicles over the next three months. At present the firm runs one truck under interim authority. Hennessy denied operating vehicles under the Alba licence and said that he had continued repairing the vehicles for Manson until the beginning of this year. He had also done invoicing for him. Questioned by Bell, Hennessy said he could not recall the date that he considered Alba to have been sold and that he did not understand dates.

He denied that the deal was a cosy arrangement to allow him to continue operating without a licence of  his own. Hennessy denied that the two men were in partnership. They did not get on, he said. Manson said they were friends but they did not get on from a business point of view. Manson's two previous companies, Enterprising Waste Solutions and EWS Logistics went into liquidation. The hearing was adjourned until later in the month.