The minibus trade on Teesside has received a strong warning to “significantly improve” - after three firms had licences revoked and two new licence applications were refused.
Kevin Rooney, the Traffic Commissioner for the North East, also suspended one operator’s licence indefinitely and issued a formal warning to another, following public inquiries held during January in Middlesbrough and Leeds.
Mr Rooney said: “Operating a minibus is something that cannot be taken lightly. It’s not good enough to fill in an application form, get the licence and then ignore or neglect the operating standards.”
Mr Rooney said his experience of taxi firms running minibuses revealed the need for “urgent and significant improvement in their approach to safe and legal operations”.
At the hearings, Zubair Elahi, trading as Euro Cars and Anser Akbar, trading as Blueline Travel, both in Middlesbrough, and Imran Khan trading as Khan’s in Stockton, had their licences revoked.
Aurzam Shan trading as East Coast Travel in Middlesbrough had his licence suspended indefinitely while Mohammed Kabir Shabir and Ibrar Iqbal, both of Ingleby Barwick had licence applications refused.
“The rules are there for very good reasons – to keep passengers and the roads safe and to make sure there is fair competition in the industry,” continued Mr Rooney.
“It’s all too common for people who run minibuses as a part time business – usually alongside a full time taxi service – to either fail in these duties or take their eye off the ball.
“The action I have taken in these cases should send a message to the taxi trade that getting an operator’s licence to run minibuses is a serious commitment.”
Tariq Hussain trading as Tollesby Travel and Mahboob Hussain, in Middlesbrough, had licences granted with undertakings.
North East Cars Ltd in Middlesbrough had its application granted in reduced form for six vehicles - reduced from the original application for 13 vehicles.
The minibus operation of Middlesbrough Cars Ltd, trading as Boro Cars in Middlesbrough, was given a formal warning with undertakings.
A statement from Boro Cars after its hearing said checks referred to were carried out 18 months ago and since the company had made “significant investments in training, extra staffing, system upgrades and more regular rigorous audits to ensure compliance”.
• Zubair Elahi, trading as Euro Cars, had his licence revoked and was disqualified until January 2016.
Vehicles had been prohibited for defects, maintenance records were missing or incomplete and a vehicle had travelled over 10,000kms with a defective steering joint.
No procedures were in place to make sure drivers were working legally and within their hours.
Mr Rooney said Mr Elahi had a complete “lack of interest in running his licence properly”.
• Anser Akbar, trading as Blueline Travel, had his licence revoked after a vehicle was stopped with a significant tyre defect.
The vehicle’s driver also did not have the right type of licence to carry passengers.
A subsequent investigation found he had been driving without the appropriate entitlement for 12 months.
Safety inspections which should have been carried out every six weeks were left for up to 22 weeks.
Issues with record keeping and driver defect reporting and driver’s hours offences.
• Imran Khan trading as Khan’s in Stockton had his licence revoked from April 18.
Traffic Commissioner concluded vehicles had an “appalling roadworthiness history” but noted there had been some improvements.
• Aurzam Shan trading as East Coast Travel in Middlesbrough had his licence suspended indefinitely, with a review to take place on April 28 this year.
Evidence indicated vehicles had mechanical defects, significant and multiple failures with record keeping by drivers and the operator had not met licence undertakings.
• Middlesbrough Cars Ltd trading as Boro Cars in Middlesbrough were given a formal warning with undertakings.
The firm’s minibuses had picked up 14 prohibition notices for defects in two years - two recorded as being safety critical. Drivers’ hours infringements were also reported.
• Mohammed Kabir Shabir of Ingleby Barwick had a licence application refused for failing to meet the primary occupation test.
• Ibrar Iqbal of Ingleby Barwick also had his application refused for failing to meet the primary occupation test and not satisfying requirements for maintenance arrangements.
• Tariq Hussain trading as Tollesby Travel and Mahboob Hussain, in Middlesbrough, had licences granted with undertakings.
• North East Cars Ltd in Middlesbrough had its application granted in reduced form for six vehicles - reduced from the original application for 13 vehicles. They will operate in Middlesbrough under the Blueline banner.
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