H&B Logistics has been fined £500 and £200 prosecution costs after admitting use of a truck with faulty brakes. The truck was caught with worn brake pad material after being stopped at ThornhamIsland in December, 2005, and given a prohibition notice. Just two weeks before, a safety inspection by H&B director Nick Hall and outside contractor David Brady, revealed worn, but
legal brakes. It was believed that the brakes would last until the next inspection and would be replaced after the company's Christmas shutdown, said Clare Petricca-Riding, for the company.
The Denton-based company told Rochdale magistrates that it carried out safety inspections every eight weeks, but now Brady carries out all inspections and every second inspection includes a rolling road brake test. The condition of the truck in question had been the subject of a public inquiry before North-west traffic commissioner Beverley Bell earlier in the year, earning H&B the temporary suspension of its licence. The magistrates said that the company exercised poor judgement, but accepted that no accident has been caused as a result of the fault.
