Crackdown on buses follows MoT failures

A Black Country bus firm that failed half its MoT inspections within 18 months of getting a licence has been refused permission to run 10 more vehicles.

Sandwell Travel has also been ordered to keep its four existing vehicles off the road for a 48-hour suspension period after a public inquiry heard how its single decker buses had failed maintenance checks, while legal paperwork was not properly prepared.

Boss Sukhwinder Singh, of Somerset Road, West Bromwich, was spared having his operating licence revoked.

But he was warned by deputy traffic commissioner Miles Donnington it was his "last chance" to get maintenance standards in order.

Mr Singh was refused an application to increase the number of vehicles from four to 14 following yesterday's inquiry in Birmingham.

The inquiry heard how an unannounced inspection of three of the vehicles at Sandwell Travel's operating centre in Tinsley Street, Great Bridge, in June found one with a horn which did not work and two with oil leaks.

Safety check paperwork had not been properly signed off, while buses failed four of their eight MoT inspections first time round since the company started in February. Mr Singh claimed one of the vehicles had not been owned by the company at the time.

Mr Donnington said the company had breached the specific undertakings imposed at a public inquiry when the licence was granted in February 2008, including failing to carry out effective pre-MoT inspections and failing to comply with paperwork requirements for regular vehicle checks.

He told Mr Singh: "If you appear at a public inquiry again in the next five years for maintenance reasons you can expect not only revocation but also a considerable length of disqualification from this industry. It is you last and final chance."

Mr Singh said his paperwork had been kept properly in order since the last inspection in June and he had worked hard to maintain his fleet.