News

A South Yorkshire tipperman who ran a vehicle without an O-licence to earn enough to apply for one has lost his bid for its return after it was impounded by Vosa. Martin Ripley of Rotherham had sought the return of the vehicle before North-Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney. Traffic examiner Ann Devlin said that in August 2006 Ripley had been convicted of unauthorised use by the Sheffield magistrates, and fined £300 with £115 costs. On 29 August this year a vehicle driven by Ripley, which  was loaded with limestone, was stopped in a check at Rotherham.

No O-licence disc was displayed. Ripley confirmed that the vehicle was being used in the course of his business, that he did not hold an O-licence and that he had not applied for an O-licence. Ripley said he had not applied for an O-licence for financial reasons as he had just gone through a divorce. He now had the money to enable him to make an application. He was currently hiring a van. If he did not get the vehicle back he did not think he would be able to carry on trading.

Asked for evidence of ownership, Ripley said he had bought the vehicle from someone in Birmingham but he did not know where the receipt was. The registration document and the insurance were in his name. He had obtained a bank loan to purchase the vehicle but the bank was not using the vehicle as security. The TC said that no matter how sympathetic he was, he had to apply the legislation. Ripley had known what he was doing and had done  it for commercial reasons. That was exactly why the impounding legislation had been brought in.