When the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) stopped a vehicle during a routine check, the officer found that it was displaying a licence disc that wasn’t in the name of the business operating the vehicle. The firm didn’t have its own O licence.

It turned out they had an agreement with an existing licence holder to borrow one of their licence discs. The operator charged a daily fee for the disc and also took money from the other business to cover the financial standing requirement.

The licence holder said he’d made enquiries about whether it was legal to allow another operator to borrow his licence for a fee and believed that it was.

Both parties were convicted for the offence and the existing operator lost his O licence. The company that borrowed the licence later made its own application but was refused on the grounds of repute, financial standing and professional competence.

Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt said, “The business lending the licence disc had entered into an agreement which allowed a front for their activities even though they had no authority to operate.”