(a)

considered the report from the Director for Place;

(b)

head from Mr Wildman that –

?

he checked his vehicle’s tyres daily and had checked the tyres on 31 October 2012;

?

he was very sorry for what happened and had been very surprised when told by the licensing officer that his tyres were bald;

?

he had taken the vehicle to two garages the next day and a problem had been found with the tracking and also other issues had been discovered which had led to excessive wear on the inside of both tyres; these problems had been rectified by the garages on 1 November 2012 prior to the suspension being lifted;

?

he had numerous compliments and character references which showed that he was a helpful and courteous driver;

?

if his hackney carriage driver’s licence was suspended and not his vehicle licence this would have a detrimental effect on his disabled passengers;

?

he usually got 25,000 miles out of his front tyres as he buys the best quality tyres but in this case he had only got 9,412 miles out of the front tyres;

(c)

took the following into consideration –

?

Mr Wildman had been a licensed hackney carriage driver since May 2002 with his current licence being due to expire in May 2015;

?

during a routine inspection on 31 October 2012, Mr Wildman’s hackney carriage vehicle had been found to be unroadworthy due to the fact that both front tyres were worn down to the cord; the vehicle licence had been immediately suspended; the suspension was lifted the following day when the repairs had been carried out;

?

that Mr Wildman’s vehicle had been inspected on other occasions in the past year at which time the vehicle was found to be satisfactory;

?

it was a condition of the hackney carriage vehicle licence that all tyres and wheels must meet the legal requirements as to suitability for use on the road;

?

Mr Wildman drove and owned the vehicle and as the driver was responsible for its roadworthiness;

?

all that was said by Mr Wildman;

(d)

were concerned that –

?

the tyres were so bald that the cord was showing and this was a public safety concern; the committee also found it difficult  to accept that such wear had occurred in one day between checks;

?

if the defective tyres had not been picked up by the licensing officer, it was possible that Mr Wildman could have carried on driving passengers.

(1)

Mr Wildman’s hackney carriage driver’s licence will be suspended for a period of two days under section 19(1)(b) of the Plymouth City Council Act 1975 as bald tyres are a public safety concern which is a relevant consideration under the Council’s licensing objectives;

(2)

no action will be taken against Mr Wildman’s hackney carriage vehicle licence as the vehicle is now fit for use and there are no reasonable cause for any action to be taken against the licence under section 18 of the Plymouth City Council Act 1975.