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Although he took no action against the licence held by Uttoxeter-based Boulton Skip Hire, the West Midland Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones refused the company's bid to increase its licence from three to five vehicles. Maintenance problems were the issue. Vehicle examiner Harry Marsh told a Birmingham public inquiry he examined the three vehicles operated during a maintenance investigation in October, issuing a delayed prohibition and three inspection notices. Inspection periods varied between  two and eight weeks, against a stated period of six weeks. Safety inspection reports noted defects that should have been picked up by the drivers, while the majority of the driver defect reports showed no defects.

The initial pass rate at annual test was 25% compared with the national average of 65.32%. A vehicle given a delayed prohibition in September received a variation notice when produced for clearance. The vehicles were relatively old on rough work and there had been similar issues during a maintenance investigation in June 2006. Transport manager David Hughes said he had let the company down massively.

The maintenance contractor had been changed because they had been unhappy with the previous contractor. Director Emma Boulton said she had become a director in February and was increasingly running the business, taking over from her father, as she wanted to put things right. She gave a series of undertakings in relation to future maintenance arrangements after the TC  pointed out the nature of the work required robust safety systems. The TC considered the company was focused on getting its act together and, in the light of the undertakings given, decided not to take action against the licence.