Nick Jones (pictured), traffic commissioner for the West Midlands, found that Shane Fletcher was the controlling mind behind Fletcher Metals, yet he had already been banned by the Environment Agency.
“It was clear that those employed by the entity holding the operator’s licence took orders from Fletcher who had been banned by the Environment Agency,” comments Jones.
“All correspondence was answered by Shane Fletcher, despite his using someone else’s name.”
The traffic commissioner also heard that documents relating to vehicle inspections were falsified, drivers had committed offences and a vehicle had been operated with an insecure load, in what was a described as a “shocking condition”.
Reaching his decision to revoke the operating licence held by Fletcher’s Metals with immediate effect and disqualify Fletcher from running vehicles indefinitely, Jones said: “An issue of significance is that the records were not merely false, the vehicle was operated in a shocking condition and it is clear that there was no control over the drivers or records.”
“[Fletcher] also ensured a significant competitive advantage as a result of failures to comply with the law and failures to maintain vehicles safely.”