The 38-vehicle national licence held by Kendal-based Airport Services UK has been cut to 19 by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Simon Evans after hearing that a child in a wheelchair was slightly injured when a seat became loose in a wheelchair-adapted minibus.
The company, trading as Airport Services UK and Lakeland Coaches, had been called before the TC at a Golborne Public Inquiry.
For the company, Scott Bell said that there had been problems when MD and Transport Manager (TM) David Birkett’s father had died in 2009 intestate, and the matter was only resolved last year. A number of licence discs had been returned, reducing the fleet to 25 vehicles.
The vehicle involved, at Grange-over-Sands on 4 September, had not been used since passing its annual test in July. The driver should have spotted that the seat was loose during his walk-round check. The job was an emergency request from Cumbria County Council on the Friday afternoon for the movement on the Monday. Mr Birkett was on holiday returning to work on the morning of the incident.
Mr Birkett said that it was very difficult to operate the business because of the dispute over his father’s estate. It had gone on for nine years and it just wore him down.
In 2017 a County Court Judge gave the firm time to sort it out, or the business would have to be sold off ,and an agreement was reached in October. During that time the company had gone down from 15 school contracts to five.
On the morning of 4 September, he had been devastated to hear what had happened. He could not answer why the seat was not connected or why the clamping system had been taken off. He could not say where the toggle switch had gone that kept the seat in place.
The driver had always been very reliable, and it was totally out of character for him to have missed that the seat was not connected. The driver had been unaware that the seats at the back were on slides and could move. He had been on holiday when the contract was taken on and he could not say whether the vehicle was checked before it went out. In his opinion it should not have gone out.
Advice given by a Vehicle Examiner on a follow-up visit had been taken on board and the systems had been changed.
An employee was being trained up as an additional TM. It was fair to say that he had taken his eye off the ball during a very difficult period. With clarification over the ownership of the business, the future could now be planned.
The TC said what had occurred was in stark contrast to the company’s previous record. He would review the licence reduction on receipt of an audit report, due to take place in July.
