Coach firm is driven out of business for records scam

Published on Friday 9 May 2008 10:28

AN EDINBURGH coach firm has been put out of business after being found guilty of falsifying tachograph records and drivers' hours.

Scottish Traffic Commissioner Joan Aitken ruled that Browns of Edinburgh had potentially put other road users at risk by lying about the number of hours drivers were working.

The Broxburn-based firm's owner Alistair Brown, who started the business in 1965, has been banned from holding a public service vehicle operator licence for four years, following a public inquiry in the Capital last month.

Browns has a fleet of 15 coaches which are used for mainly private hires but does occasional work for Lothians local authorities including Edinburgh city council.

Nobody from Browns was willing to comment today but the firm is taking legal advice on whether to lodge an appeal on the verdict.

As Mr Brown is a sole trader his ban will effectively put him out of business and the traffic commissioner has given him until June 30 to arrange alternatives for existing bookings and sell off his coaches.

Ms Aitken said: "This is one of the most serious cases that can come before a Traffic Commissioner.

"This operator has grossly offended against both road safety and fair competition.

"The drivers' hours provisions are there to make sure that drivers do not fall asleep at the wheel and there is a true risk that this would have happened to Browns drivers given the pattern of driving."

It was the first time Mr Brown, who runs his business with son Ronald and his wife Rhona, had been in front of the commissioner during his 43-year career.

The investigation into Browns started in 2006 when the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) received a complaint from an aggrieved ex-driver that the operator had been using ghost names on tachograph charts to hide drivers' hours offences.

It was said that drivers handed in tachograph charts and time sheets and were paid off the sheets. However, it was alleged there were weekly and daily rest offences with the whistleblower giving examples of the offences.

One such example was that passengers would be dropped off at their London hotel and the driver would drive back to base that night.

On the drive north, the driver would stop at a motorway service station, remove his chart, insert a blank chart and drive back to base. At the office, a ghost name would be entered.