A FAMILY-run coach firm has been banned from operating its fleet of school buses after a traffic watchdog heard that off-road defective vehicles were still being used to ferry passengers.

George Young’s Coa-ches of Ross-on-Wye, which carries pupils to and from the likes of Newent Community School and Wyedean Academy in Sedbury, was ordered to cease operating from December 23 by the Traffic Commissioner.

One of its drivers, whose professional licence had lapsed, was banned 21 months ago for “bullying and threatening” behaviour to a driving standards inspector who tried to carry out a school playground check in Newent.

And the firm was censured for poor maintenance standards just over a year ago by the commissioner, who also said company director Gwendoline Young was an “inadequate transport manager” and must be replaced.

But it failed to act on the findings, and the Traffic Commissioner has now ordered the firm to cease operating its 19-strong fleet, while owners Gwendoline Young and her son Kevin Young have also been banned for three years from holding a transport operator’s licence and being involved with a licensed transport company.

Gwendoline Young and Edward Berry were also banned from being a transport manager, after it was revealed that he had signed up to replace Mrs Young in October 2018 but had never actually taken up the role.

In his ruling, West Midlands Traffic Commissioner Nicholas Denton said a Gloucestershire Council engineer who inspected one of the buses at a school last May found “numerous safety-related defects”, including exhaust fumes and water entering the vehicle, rust holes in the wheel arches, an insecure bumper and bonnet, and a faulty mirror.

The firm had been “dismissive” of the inspection, showing it had a lack of concern for the roadworthiness of its vehicles, he said, while emergency buzzers failed to work on other buses.

Kevin Young had also told the council his mother was allowed to stay on the licence as manager, something which would have “horrified” the commissioner had he known at the time.

Mr Denton recalled the firm to a public inquiry in Birmingham in November 2019 after learning that Gwendoline Young was still involved in the business.

The matter came to light when Berry tendered his resignation to the Central Licensing Office last September saying he had worked for George Young’s Coaches for “about three to four months” and couldn’t work with Mrs Young because she wouldn’t let him have any of the paperwork.

A Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency inspector who visited the firm on September 19 also discovered that she was wholly unaware of the agency’s ‘Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness’.

Berry, who was tracked down at his home, claimed he was unaware he had been appointed transport manager until he saw it on the internet in June 2019, and his efforts to become involved after that were rejected.

In addition, roller brake tests and other safety inspections, including tyre tread checks, were not being carried out as agreed by the business, defects were not being fixed and vehicles which were supposed to be off the road for repair had been used to carry passengers.

Maintenance provider Julian Oakley told the inquiry his relationship with the firm had “been going downhill” for two years, the fleet was “tired” and it was sometimes “hard work” to get the vehicles in for checks.

Mr Denton said: “Mrs Young clearly had no conception of the duties and responsibilities of a modern-day transport manager… (and) had never undergone any form of training as a transport manager.”

She also told the inquiry she wasn’t aware she had been told to resign at the September 2018 inquiry and “saw no reason why she should.”

But the commissioner said he had made it clear she should be “quickly replaced” and there had been “a complete failure” to appoint a new manager.

Even worse, Kevin Young had dishonestly tried to hide it by appointing someone who never took up the role, he said.

To see the full report, go to www.gov.uk/gov ernment/publica tions/george-youngs-coaches- ltd