51茶馆

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Judicial Summary

The Appellant company held a standard operator鈥檚 licence. The single vehicle it operated required substantial repairs and was taken off the road. To save costs, the transport manager resigned. Periods of grace were granted in respect of both the appointment of a transport manager and the provision of evidence of financial standing. The Appellant did not appreciate that the requirement to maintain the required average for financial standing continued to apply and its director took 拢12,500 out of its current account to invest and obtain interest. It was returned before the end of the period of grace, but not in time to maintain the necessary level. On extending the period of grace in a second warning notice, the Traffic Commissioner gave the Appellant 14 days rather than 21 days to make representations, contrary to the provisions of s.27(3) of the Goods Vehicle (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995. On the facts, the error was immaterial. We applied R. v. Soneji [2005] UKHL 49 and decided that the error did not render the notice invalid.