Licence suspended after coach wrongly used for election campaign
A vehicle being driven to promote an operator’s candidacy in the General Election has landed his company in trouble.
After having a Leyland Tiger Plaxton Derwent caught out on the road without a roadworthiness certificate or excise licence, a Deputy Traffic Commissioner suspended Horsham-based Arun Coaches’ operator’s licence for an indefinite period. Deputy Traffic Commissioner, John Baker, also curtailed the licence to one vehicle.
The operator Hugo Miller is the holder of a standard international licence authorising three vehicles granted on 18 June 1991.
The Leyland Tiger had been seen on roads in June and July 2024 without the required licences. A written request was made to Mr Miller to supply compliance related documentation on the 7 September 2024 but no documentation was supplied. A follow up visit took place on the 24 September 2024 when a Duple 425 was seen parked at the operating centre. No inspection was made of that vehicle as Mr Miller had indicated by e-mail that it had not been used for approximately four years. The Leyland Tiger was not seen at the operating centre.
During a Public Inquiry, Miller said the Leyland Tiger’s registered keeper since 1 December 2023 was his now-deceased wife and that it was kept on a farm. He said he had omitted to remove the vehicle from the operator’s licence. He explained the use of the vehicle in June and July 2024 may have been his wife and others as a way of promoting his candidacy in the General Election. He had been in Florida until a few days before the election so had been unaware of this. He could not say whether he had discussed the use with his late wife.
The Deputy Traffic Commissioner found it more likely than not that he did know the Tiger was operated in the two months last summer. The vehicle was authorised on Mr Miller’s licence and the responsibility for the vehicle was not lost by changing the registered keeper to his wife.
The disc for the Duple is to be sent to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner and only returned to Mr Miller when an up to date roadworthiness certificate and pre-use preventative maintenance inspection record is provided for the vehicle. No other vehicle can be added to the licence during the period of the suspension.
- The Deputy Traffic Commissioner’s decision was published on 23 January 2025.