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An illiterate former traveller, whose previous vehicle was impounded in February, has been granted an O-licence after confirmation that he had permission to use his operating centre and that there was enough money in his bank account. St Helens-based scrap metal dealer Danny Boy Locke was seeking a new restricted licence for one vehicle before the North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hinchliffe.

At an earlier hearing Lock said his 14-year-old son helped him with the paperwork.  He had been using a lorry all his life and had never had an O-licence. He had been pulled up for various things in the past but never for not having an O-licence. He received nothing from Vosa for the impounded vehicle when it was sold for £2,600. When the hearing resumed, the DTC said he had a letter giving Lock permission for his new vehicle to be kept at the caravan park, a driver's defect reporting book had been produced, and evidence that Lock had paid £2,000 into his bank account, giving a balance of £3,600.

Lock undertook to maintain his bank current account with a credit balance of at least £3,000 to be used only in maintenance emergencies and then quickly brought back to that level and that safety inspections would be planned and recorded. They would not be more than 12 weeks apart and undertaken by an outside contractor. After the DTC had reminded Lock of the undertakings contained in the licence application form, Lock said he had his word that everything would  be done right. In granting the application, the DTC told Lock: "Now at last you are legal."

The DTC clearly felt that Lock was better in the licensing system than outside it, particularly as he appeared to want to do things properly.