News

A scaffolder who continued to operate despite revocation of his licence has failed to win back his impounded vehicle.

Weymouth-based Mark Bowring, trading as Wyscaff, appealed unsuccessfully to the Transport Tribunal against the refusal of Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Lester Maddrell to return his truck.

The DTC had been told that Bowring, a former director of Weymouth Scaffolding (2000), whose licence had been revoked after the company went into receivership, had been warned  repeatedly about continuing to operate vehicles without an O-licence.

Bowring claimed that he believed he was able to continue operating under the company's licence. Although he had ceased operating in October, in order to keep his vehicles operational until an O-licence application was granted, he had been making sure that they continued to start. The vehicle impounded in January would not start so it was towed onto the road until the engine fired up. He then went to collect his son, who was waiting at a tyre depot, so that they could return to the yard together.

The DTC concluded that his explanation was unbelievable.

Dismissing the appeal, the Tribunal said that Bowring's explanation against the background of the unlawful operation was not credible. The fact that Bowring had recently taxed the vehicle and that it had passed an annual vehicle test before the impounding raised further doubts about the credibility of his evidence.

The Tribunal  believed the DTC reached the right conclusion regarding Bowring's actions on the day the truck was impounded.