Repute 'tarnished' by unauthorised centre
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• John Butler, MD of Cambridgeshire haulier Ken Thomas, has told a Bristol Public Inquiry that his predecessor, John Thomas, was "autocratic" and "fixed in his ways". The company appeared before Western Traffic Commissioner Phillip Brown following the use Of an unauthorised operating centre and tacho offences.
The company had set up operating centres in the Western Traffic Area to provide parking for trunkers travelling from the firm's base at Guyhim near Wisbech, Cambs.
Vehicle examiner Paul Crowley reported that one centre in Bristol was no longer being used and two vehicles were based illegally at a yard belonging to David Hathaway Transport at `fate, near Bristol. The firm had not told the Traffic Area Office about these changes, or the fact that two of the five trucks were now being wrongly operated on its eastern licence, until August 2002.
Suspending the licence for three months, Brown said the company had retained its repute, but concluded: "It's reputation has been severely tarnished."