Traffic commissioner for Scotland disqualifies directors for life

Traffic commissioner (TC) for Scotland  has disqualified for life the directors of a company fined £200,000 for environmental offences.

The Company - which is based in Cambuslang and Glasgow - had been found guilty in September 2012 of keeping controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and keeping controlled waste without a management licence.

The company was fined £200,000 at Livingston Sheriff Court for the offences under S33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.   

It is understood that the Company kept waste ranging from cardboard and carpet to clothing and electrical components at their site on various occasions between January 2010 and February 2010.

The company failed to notify the TC’s office of the offences, as required. Action had previously been taken against the licence in 2011 as a result of environmental convictions.

A DVSA investigation also revealed that four safety critical prohibition notices had been issued to vehicles operated by the company between September 2011 and April 2012.These related to tyre and wheel defects and showed that drivers were not undertaking daily safety checks on their vehicles.

Additional prohibitions had been issued and there had been no pattern of improvement in the company’s annual test results in recent times. Previous investigations in 2011 and 2007 by the DVSA also reported issues with vehicle maintenance.

The TC was also told that a vehicle in the company’s livery was stopped in January 2012 and found to be displaying an O-licence disc belonging to another business.

A representative from the TC has advised that “There is a history here of analogous offending and of criminal disregard for the protection of the environment and safe handling of waste.”

The TC also disqualified a Director of the Company for life from acting as a transport manager for other businesses operating HGVs.