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Quote:A KNUTSFORD school transport provider has lost his operating licence and been disqualified for two years due to a ‘blatant disregard’ for safety standards.

David Manley, who trades as Acorn Buses and also runs Acorn Taxis, lost his passenger transport licence on January 28 following a decision by the Deputy Traffic Commissioner for the North West of England, Simon Evans.

The orders follow a public inquiry on January 13, which heard Mr Manley had been prosecuted by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

He was initially reported by Cheshire West and Chester Council for driving a 16 seat minibus without the required driver CPC qualification after his vehicle was inspected during a routine check at Lymm High School last year.

The requirement for bus and coach drivers to hold this qualification came into force in September 2013.

Following an investigation into Mr Manley’s vehicle operation, a number of shortcomings were found, including a lack of management or co-ordination of drivers’ hours - which are put in place to prevent fatigue in drivers and protect other road users.

At no stage had Mr Manley downloaded driver cards or the vehicle unit, which keeps records of driving and other duties, and no working time records were collected or monitored.

On top of this there was no evidence of any training for the drivers or any attempts by Mr Manley to keep up to date with compliance requirements.

Mr Evans, the Deputy Commissioner, said: “I am satisfied that an operator who takes such scant account of drivers’ hours requirements will have been likely to have placed the public at risk and may have obtained competitive advantage.

“There has been a blatant disregard of the requirements of the licence held such that revocation is an entirely appropriate outcome.”

Mr Manley, who did not attend the public inquiry, initially said that he did not have his driver CPC qualification card on him when he was stopped at Lymm High School.

But in another interview with the DVSA traffic examiner, he claimed that he was not aware that he was required to hold the driver CPC qualification.

The Deputy Commissioner concluded that it was more likely that Mr Manley knew about the expectations of drivers to hold a CPC qualification.