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Black Country lorry driver banned for not resting

A lorry driver who broke safety rules by driving for too long has been disqualified from professional work for a year.

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Stuart Scrivens, aged 51, of Remington Road, Walsall, was found to have driven excessive hours on two occasions in the same week while working for Clentons Removals, which is based in the town.

Industry regulator Kevin Rooney said it was highly likely Mr Scrivens would have suffered from fatigue after driving for 18 hours out of 24 and 15 hours out of 19.

Drivers' hours and tachograph rules mean they must take specific breaks and rest while driving, as well as in between their duties. The legislation also sets maximum periods of driving.

The decision to revoke Mr Scrivens' professional licence and disqualify him until February 12 comes after a driver conduct hearing last month in Birmingham.

Mr Rooney said: "Mr Scrivens has clearly demonstrated he is not today a safe person to be the driver of a heavy goods vehicle."

"This is not a matter of a driver not knowing the rules; quite the contrary the purpose of Mr Scrivens' offending was to hide his abuse of the rules."

The Traffic Commissioner was told how Mr Scrivens had been stopped by government inspectors at the UK Control Zone in Coquelles on April 23.

Records showed Mr Scrivens inserted his driver card at 1.14am on April 23 but after further questioning Mr Scrivens accepted he had actually used another driver's card.

Mr Scrivens drove using the other driver's card for a total of eight hours and 46 minutes. By doing so, he created a false record of his duties.

He then inserted his own driver card and drove for a further six hours and 16 minutes, before being stopped by examiners from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

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