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A company that once ran for several months without an O-licence has won a fresh licence at its second attempt. DC Transport (Newport) appeared before Welsh Deputy Traffic Commissioner Fiona Harrington. The company had applied for a licence for six vehicles and 25 trailers and the DTC granted a licence for six vehicles and six trailers. In June 2007, the DTC rejected the company's application for a licence for seven vehicles and 25 trailers after it had run without a licence for eight months. Sole  director of the company was Lee Morgans, transport manager was David Cornfield, whose licence had been revoked and who had been declared bankrupt but had since been discharged, and company secretary was his wife Sarah.

Evidence was given that Cornfield's transport operation, run successfully since 1993 as a family business with 17 vehicles and trailers, collapsed in 2006 because of cash-flow problems generated by reliance on a single customer who defaulted. The collapse left debts owing to creditors including Lee Morgans. He was a subcontractor for the Cornfield business before its collapse and had continued to subcontract for the company using his own O-licence. Morgans' involvement in the company was to enable some of the money owing to be repaid to him through director's remuneration. The company no longer intended to operate in steel haulage and was switching to food transportation.

Consequently, only six trailers would be required to operate in conjunction with  the six vehicles applied for, compared to the greater ratio of trailers to vehicles required in transporting steel products. The vehicles had not been operated since the previous public inquiry at significant financial cost to the business. In granting the licence, the DTC made the grant conditional on the company producing its latest accounts, three months' bank statements and details of any overdraft facility and/or invoice discounting facility within 14 days of the end of June and the end of December.

REPUTE REGAINED

The DTC accepted that a suitable time had passed for repute to be regained, but considered that it remained tarnished by the historical events.