Shorter licence for Revill
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• North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Frederick Whalley has said there would be an unwarranted risk to the public if Drifield and District Transport, trading as Revill Coaches, was allowed to carry on at its present scale of operation. He has cut its licence from 14 to 10 vehicles.
Evidence was given by vehicle examiners of the imposition of six immediate and two delayed prohibitions, mostly for braking faults.
Whalley said that he had received a number of letters of complaint about the condition of the company's vehicles. North Yorkshire County Council had expressed concern about the roadworthiness of vehicles on school contracts, saying that parents had alleged that on one occasion the brakes of a bus had failed and it had to be pushed by pupils.
In September a Driffield re sident had written complaining about brake failures, the use of unqualified staff and vehicles breaking down, alleging that more vehices were being run than were authorised, and that some drivers were unqualified.
A Mr Rudd wrote in November, complaining about unroadworthy vehicles. tie alleged that a vehicle had run backwards down a hill and that the passengers had to get out and walk to the top of the hill.
Clifford Kilvington, a director, said that the driver had been unhappy with the brakes of a vehicle on a school run, and had sent for a replacement vehicle. The coach had stalled on a corner and the driver had asked the senior boys for a push. He claimed the second letter from Rudd was a total fabrication. A new engine had been put into the vehicle that had problems on the hill, and the mechanic had turned the fuel pumps down while the engine was running in. Kilvington said he had taken the company over in 1981 and had invested time and money in improving it. The workshop manager who he had appointed after advertising nationally had not proved to be up to the job and had left the company last Christmas.
A new workshop manager had been appointeed in April and a new system of maintenance had been introduced.
An arrangement had been entered into for the Freight Transport Association to undertake periodic checks on the company's maintenance standards. The company currently had 20 vehicles in possession and required 14 licence discs to maintain its 17 registered services.
Reducing Drifield's authorisation, and cutting the duration to give an early review of the situation in 1990, Whalley said it was up to the company to decide which local services to continue with.