Confused hire terms
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11 The unauthorised use of a vehicle cost DIY retailer Great Mills (Central) of PauIton, Bristol £475 in fines and costs, when it appeared before Llanelli Magistrates.
The company pleaded guilty to the offence.
Prosecuting for the DOT, Bill Rees said that traffic examiners stopped a hired van transporting goods between the company's stores at Carmarthen and Swansea. Inquiries revealed that Great Mills did not hold an Operator's Licence.
For the company, it was said that it
misunderstood the regulations and thought that it was covered by the hire company's operator's licence. A memo had been sent to all its stores saying that hired vehicles must also have hired drivers in future.
The group had considered applying for its own licence, but felt that vehicles would be too widespread to return to a central depot.
Rees pointed out that Great Mills was still wrong. It could hold a licence without it basing all the vehicles at a single depot.