A scrap metal firm will lose its licence next month after failing to make sure vehicles had safety inspections. 

For over 12 months the business didn’t get any safety checks carried out on its fleet. 

Traffic Commissioner, Nick Denton, called this state of affairs “wholly unacceptable”. 

The operator’s failures went beyond routine inspections. A DVSA examiner found other issues: 

• an S marked prohibition
• stretched safety inspections
• no driver defect reporting system
• high prohibition and MOT failure rates

At a public inquiry, one of the firm's directors said his in house fitter had been on long term sick. But he didn’t take any action until the following year. 

The director also admitted he hadn’t realised the vehicles needed to be inspected regularly. 

Mr Denton said he'd taken little if any trouble to understand what was required and to make sure it was done. 

The commissioner added: “The complete abandonment of preventative maintenance inspections over a period of at least 12 months is an act of severe negligence and dereliction, with potential harmful impacts on the safety of both the operator’s drivers and other road users.”

You can read the latest decisions by traffic commissioners here.