A BUS operator convicted of drink driving has been fined £1,500 for failing to run timetabled bus services.
Thomas Cole, who runs Cole's Coaches in Falkirk, was ordered to pay the fine after a public inquiry heard he had failed to operate a number of timetabled bus services in the Falkirk, Callendar Park and Banknock areas.
It was the second time he had been called before the Traffic Commissioner over the failure to run services.
Mr Cole was banned from registering any new bus services until October and the operator's licence has also been curtailed to allow him to run two coaches instead of three.
The businessman was previously disqualified from driving for 28 months in February 2013 after he was caught behind the wheel at more than double the former drink-drive limit. He had been making the 30 minute journey from a pub to his home when police stopped and breathalysed him, finding that his breath-alcohol reading was 82microgrammes per 100ml of breath. The legal limit at the time was 35mcg, and is now 22mcg.
Mr Cole told the public inquiry it had been an "act of sheer stupidity" and had successfully completed a rehabilitation programme which reduced his driving ban to 22 months.
He admitted that the loss of the licence had "caused him very significant difficulties" as the business had to continue operating without him as a driver.
Deputy Traffic Commissioner Richard McFarlane said his biggest worry was over vehicle maintenance, noting that the buses in use were "of a fair age".
Mr McFarlane said: "My impression is that with his 'eye off the ball' [Mr Cole] was not properly maintaining his vehicles and that he was indulging in 'sticking plaster' repairs rather than carrying out the much-needed major overhauls."
However, he added that Cole's Coaches had enough money in the bank to meet financial standing requirements and that Mr Cole "continues to be of good repute and be professionally competent".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article