• A Gloucestershire opera tor, whose maintenance record was said
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to be getting worse rather than better, was told that this was his last chance when he was given a final warning at a Bristol disciplinary inquiry.
Thomas Gaden of StowOn-The-Wold had been called before Western Traffic Commissioner Christopher Heaps because of concern over his mainte nance standards.
DOT vehicle examiner Andrew Tudor said he had carried out a maintenance investigation following the issue of an immediate prohibition for a significant maintenance failure.
Since the end of August 1994, one delayed and four immediate prohibitions had been imposed on Gaden's vehicles and trailers. An immediate prohibition imposed on a vehicle in December was varied when the vehicle was produced for clearance for a further six items.
Gaden said that following the last prohibition he had asked his maintenance contractor to come down once a week to check over the lorries.
The business was doing well and he had been doing every thing himself, including driving one of the lorries. In future his wife was going to assist with the paperwork.
The TC commented that there was really no excuse for the prohibition history, with three immediate 'S'marked prohibitions within 18 months. The position had really got worse instead of better and it was quite unacceptable. He warned that if there were further significant prohibitions, Gaden could anticipate losing his licence.
"You have probably been lucky today," Heaps concluded. "I will not be as generous again on another occasion."