Concerns following a school bus check by Lancashire County Council have led to the revocation of the six-vehicle international O-Licence held by Preston-based Odyssey Journeys, and the indefinite disqualification of the company and its director Mohammed Lambat from holding or obtaining a PSV O-Licence by Traffic Commissioner (TC) David Mullan.
In addition, the TC disqualified Mr Lambat from acting as a Transport Manager indefinitely.
The TC said that Lancashire County Council conducted a compliance check at a school on 30 October 2024. The check raised significant concerns regarding a driver, Omar El Aidi, and the state of a vehicle. The driver was unable to produce his driving licence or Driver CPC to the council. It was alleged that the company subsequently provided the council with records for a different driver, and when the council followed this up, the records for Mr Aidi showed that he did not have the required licence entitlement for the vehicle he was driving.
Due to the above, DVSA was requested to undertake a full investigation of the company’s maintenance, drivers’ hours, and its systems to ensure the company was complying with the laws relating to the driving and operation of vehicles.
The DVSA investigation could not be conducted as the company had stated that it stopped operating in February 2025 due to poor business. That statement suggested that there had been a material change — in that the licence was no longer being used — and that there had been a change in the financial position of the company as business had been poor to the point that operations had ceased.
Both those changes were required to be notified to the TC as per the conditions of the O-Licence. No such notice had been received.
The allegations from the council were provided alongside two witness statements. The issues raised were of grave concern and went to the very heart of road safety and fair competition. The company then failed to engage with the DVSA investigation and, in its response to the letter proposing to revoke the licence, failed to address the concerns raised.
The failure to attend the Public Inquiry was a further failure to allow those serious concerns to be addressed.
The TC concluded that the reason the company and Transport Manager were refusing to address the issues was because the allegations were accurate.
He was extremely concerned by the allegation that the company provided records for a different driver when first requested.
He was also mindful that the discovery that the company was no longer trading and no longer satisfied financial standing requirements came about from OTC inquiries.
