Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

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TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by TimBrown » 05:48 Wednesday 28th October 2020

According to attached Kidderminster Shuttle article, Coniston Coaches licences revoked because of indifferent maintenance, lack of safety checks and documentation discrepancies.

https://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/ ... spections/

chason
Posts: 242
Joined: 14:24 Friday 22nd July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by chason » 11:21 Wednesday 28th October 2020

Somewhat worrying that these problems appear to have arisen in March but have only just been dealt with. If indeed the company and its vehicles are such a danger to the public as to warrant its licences being revoked, surely there must be some means of taking immediate action.

MattW
Posts: 979
Joined: 20:42 Sunday 3rd July 2016
Location: Cornwall

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by MattW » 17:47 Wednesday 28th October 2020

This isn't good at all. I always thought they were a respectable operator :(

Michael
Posts: 39
Joined: 20:50 Monday 18th July 2016

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by Michael » 22:21 Wednesday 28th October 2020

I wonder if this article from February helps:
https://cbwmagazine.com/coniston-coache ... contracts/

Could be that the health of the companies founder had an impact on the way the business ran or maybe we could start a conspiracy theory that this is sour grapes on the part of WCC :lol: :lol:

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by TimBrown » 10:49 Thursday 29th October 2020

Michael wrote:
22:21 Wednesday 28th October 2020
I wonder if this article from February helps:
https://cbwmagazine.com/coniston-coache ... contracts/

Could be that the health of the companies founder had an impact on the way the business ran or maybe we could start a conspiracy theory that this is sour grapes on the part of WCC :lol: :lol:
In case the full text of the Shuttle article isn't showing properly I have copied it with damning official quotes highlighted. Glad I never had to drive or travel in any Coniston vehicles!

Kidderminster Shuttle article dated 26 October 2020 by Emily Collis

Stourport Coniston Coaches bosses covered up missed inspections
The owners of a Stourport-based bus company have had their licences revoked after they tried to cover up missed safety inspections by presenting fake invoices to the DVSA.
Coniston Coaches bosses Keith Taylor and Kevin James Taylor have been disqualified from holding an operator's licence for five years after an examiner from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency found their maintenance systems were so dysfunctional that the public was being put at risk.

Following a visit to Coniston Coaches' base in Stourport, the DVSA submitted a report to traffic commissioner Nicholas Denton in March, stating that the company's contracted maintenance provider was not being used and that the driver defect reporting system was ineffective.
The agency's vehicle examiner Christopher Walker looked at the records of two vehicles and found no evidence of safety inspections in the last 15 months. Other records showed far fewer safety inspections than the expected six-week intervals.
However, at a meeting at a vehicle testing station in Kidderminster two days later, Mr Walker was handed a file of numerous maintenance inspection sheets for three vehicles. All contained minimal or no defects, no information was included on brake tests or tyre tread depths and all were written in the same handwriting. Mr Walker raised concerns that the sheets had been forged after his visit.
Two of the three vehicles brought in for inspection were issued with prohibitions for multiple defects. Mr Walker then contacted the stated maintenance contractor BW Rogers and found that Coniston’s vehicles had not been there for eight years.
The DVSA concluded that the operator’s maintenance systems placed the public at risk and advised the commissioner to bring the operator to a public inquiry as soon as possible.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the public inquiry could not take place until July 7, when a hearing was held in Birmingham. The operators' solicitor Anton Balkitis told the commissioner that the absence of some of the maintenance documentation was down to the actions of a disgruntled employee. He said both partners had suffered from health issues and said the operator denied forging maintenance records.
Keith Taylor told the commissioner he could provide evidence the maintenance records were genuine in the form of invoices from six-weekly preventative maintenance inspections. The commissioner agreed to allow more time for the operator to submit these invoices and bank statements, however they only submitted copies of numerous invoices for recovery operations or ad hoc repairs.

Attempts by the commissioner's office to contact Coniston Coaches by phone were met with messages that "this number is not accepting calls".

Mr Denton said in a report: "The operator has failed to fulfil its promise, given on application, that vehicles would be given safety inspections every six weeks ... most vehicles were given only one or two safety inspections throughout the whole of 2019." The report went on to say: "Many of the safety inspection sheets supplied to Christopher Walker two days after his visit are false documents.
"For example, there was only one invoice for a safety inspection of vehicle C18 BUS in 2019. But the operator presented six safety inspection sheets covering 2019 to Mr Walker. "For vehicle CC04 BUS, there were two invoices for safety inspections in 2019, but the operator presented eight safety inspection sheets. The provision of false documents to a traffic commissioner is an offence."
Mr Denton said the operator had "shown through its cavalier attitude to its maintenance responsibilities and its untruthfulness at the inquiry that it cannot be trusted to comply". Many of Coniston's vehicles had only had one safety check per year, instead of the eight or nine which should have been carried out.
Concluding that the company had knowingly operated unsafe vehicles, the traffic commissioner banned the pair from holding a licence for five years. Mr Denton concluded: "There can be no place in the industry for operators who fail to have their vehicles maintained correctly and then seek to cover this up."
The business was given less than the normal 28 days to wind down due to the "threat posed by the operator to road safety".

DD12
Posts: 1650
Joined: 19:49 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by DD12 » 12:28 Thursday 29th October 2020

Is a five year ban enough ?? ( - Five years go by very quickly ! )

Rich82
Posts: 160
Joined: 19:03 Sunday 3rd July 2016

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by Rich82 » 13:57 Thursday 29th October 2020

DD12 wrote:
12:28 Thursday 29th October 2020
Is a five year ban enough ?? ( - Five years go by very quickly ! )
As they were found guilty of serious Breaches of Safety I they should have a lifetime ban

ANDREW
Posts: 765
Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by ANDREW » 16:00 Wednesday 15th February 2023

I noticed an ex-Coniston vehicle in Bromsgrove yesterday - CC08BUS a small Mercedes mini-bus and on checking on Busview for operators in Stourport, there appears to be a new operator , Cameron Coaches operating this vehicle and also CC02BUS plus a handful of other vehicles. Not sure if this is a reincarnation of Coniston or not. For the record , CC08BUS carries a Wyre Forest private hire plate.

WR1st
Posts: 56
Joined: 17:04 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by WR1st » 10:20 Saturday 18th February 2023


ANDREW
Posts: 765
Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: Coniston Coaches licences revoked.

Post by ANDREW » 10:57 Saturday 18th February 2023

WR1st wrote:
10:20 Saturday 18th February 2023
https://find-and-update.company-informa ... pointments
Thanks for the info. Keeping it in the family ?? ;)

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