Putting out the Fire

The charge on this occasion related to a period of 40 days from the expiry of the three months which he had been given and the fine of £2.00 per day is the maximum under Section 290(6) of the Public Health Act 1936 . (a) Failure to observe precauti ons (Regulation 2 of 1957 Regulations). (b) Failure to keep copy of certificate (Regulation 16(10) 1957 Regulations).

Tolley appealed against conviction and sentence and the matter has heard at Canterbury Crown Court on 26th January 1977. The appeal was dismissed in the absence of the appellant but he was given leave to apply to the Court to have the appeal reinstated. Conveyance - Mixtures

At Sevenoaks Magistrates Court on 16th November 1976, Sovereign Chemical Industries Limited of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, pleaded guilty to four charges concerning conveyance of petroleum mixtures in cans. A total of two thousand 5 litre cans of petroleum-based adhesive was being carried.

The charges were:-

(a) No fire extinguisher (Regulation 6 of the 1957 Regulations). (b) No fire resisting screen (Paragraph l(c) of 1st Schedule of 1957 Regulations). and against the Director

(a) Failure (Regulation 2 of (b) Failure

to observe precautions 1957 Regulations). to complete two copies of certificate (Regulation Regulations) . 16(7) of 1957 (c) Failure to secure that overflowed (Regulation 16(6) of Regulations) . no petrol 1957 Each defendant pleaded guilty to (b ) to the Other charges . and not guilty The Court found all cases proved and imposed fines of £75 .00 on the last h of the others. charge and £25.00 on eac ' Costs of £10.00 were imposed. by Notice of the Company b n lodged appeal has ee lation t f the Regu in respec 0 'respect 2 offence and against sentence 1n of the Regulation 16(10) offence. Conveyance - Carrying .. t ",a hes c •

(c) Not instructing driver as t o the Regulations (Regulati on 6 of 1971 Regula ttons). (d) No flame not ice (Regulation 4 of 1971 Regulations).

These offences were detected during routine checks for overloading of vehicles under the Road Traffic Acts.

The fi rm was fined £50 .00 and their driver £25.00 in respect of over loading offences and the pet roleum offences brought fines of £30 .00 on (d) and £50 .00 on each of the other s . Costs of £15.00 we re awarded. At Sevenoaks Magis t s tra e Court Let on ts the 3rd December 1976, James Anthony d guilty dri to ve a r of a charge k on Pace tan wag , matcof carr y1ng p h lea es se on the vehicle whilst conveying petrol. pay £ He 15 . was fined 00 costs. £50.0 Amon 0 g and +-he ordered t? . ts pOln one which were rai sed in mi t igation wasH that deser ves f urther public i ty . the practice at matches at the g depots ate on was . tOl arr1va and return them to the dr ive r as he lef t .

Delivery - Spillage

Following a spillage of petr ol during the cour se of a de liver y , Station Garage (Wateringbur y) Lt d ., and Micheal Anthony Cayser appeared before the West MaIling Magistrate s on 23rd November 1976.

The spillage was f rom the ai r s epar ator vent of a pump on the f orecourt of a f i lling s t ation ; It r esulted from an overfilling of an unde rground storage t ank f rom a petrol t ank wagon . Overfilling appeared to be due to an attempt to assess in advance the amount of petrol which the t ank would hold, bearing in mind the antici pated sales . In addition, the defendan t Cayser, who is a director of the company , clai med to have made a mistake in reading the dips tick of the undergr ound tank . Conveyance -Le ak , ____ -At Se venoaks -- --:Magl s . t r ates 1 Court Oils L on imited , 17th December 1976 , Fuhe d . d Rl ver e a , . of Whi t e Hart Para e, . t two charges Kent pl eaded gUll t y 0 ist ration . t nk wagon reg concerning t hel T a mark CKX 655F . The vehicle was seen on the ' road wi th th a leak on one of e can hangi ng beneath t he leaking petrol . draw- off t apS and a b 1 to c a t ch the the firm In addltl0n l ,

- Spirit f the Petro eum had not got a copy 0 1957 t o (Conveyance enable them by to Road) Regulations . dr iveinstruct thelr r as to its requirements . on The Magis t the charge c r o , a tes lmpo , ncernlng d a se the le f i ne of £100 .0 £20 00 all: and . 0 on the charge under Regul t a , ' n 10 26 • Costs of £20.00 wer e awarded.

At Maidstone Magistrates Court on 12th January 1977, Young and Partners (Motors) Limited., of Linton Road, Maidstone pleaded guilty to six charges and Peter Brian Young a director of the firm pleaded guilty to three charges. The charges arose from the discovery on an inspection that two 1000 gallons underground storage tanks which had previously been pressure tested and found not to hold the pressure . The charges against the firm were as follows:(a) Keeping 1110 gallons in excess of licence. (b) Keeping 510 gallons in defective tank. (c) Keeping 885 gallons in defective tank . (d) No cap on fill pipe. (e) Petrol in manhole chamber. (f) Tank not marked by number. Information (a) to (e) were laid under Section 1(3) of the Petroleum ( Consolidation) Act as contraventions of Conditions of Licence whilst (f) was unde r Regu lation 16(2) of the 1957 Re gulati ons . The summon ses against the director alleged that (a) was committed with his consent and (b) and (c) were attributable t o his neglect . Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc . Act 1974 was u sed to bring the director before the Court .

The Magistr a t es sai d t hat they viewed the mat ter very ser iously and imposed fines of £40 .00 on each offence against the Company and £25.00 on e ach offence against the dire ctor .

De livery - spillage

Following a spillage during t he course of a delivery of petrol t o a filling station, a tank wagon driver and his mate appeared before the Tunbridge Wells Magistrates on 19th January 1977. The mate had been on top of the vehicle and had opended the footvalve before the driver had coupled the hose to the underground tank. When the driver attempted to remove the screwcap from the draw-off pipe, a spillage occured, it being alleged that there was a fault on the faucet valve which had not been opened. In view of the fact that both men had contributed to the non-observance of the companys operating code, Informations were laid against each one alleging breach of Regulation 2 of the 1957 Regulations. The case against the mate was dismissed, but the driver pleaded gUilty and was fined £50 .00.

Conveyance - Key carried

Crouch Oil Limited of Scudders . Farm, Fawkham, Kent appeared before the Maidstone Magistrates on the 3rd February 1977 and pleaded guilty to two charges concerning their tank wagon registration mark NFC 764P.

The charges followed an inspection of the vehicle during the course of a delivery of petrol at a garage. It was . found that a manlid was open and the driver was carrying a key to the manlid . It had been opened to speed the delivery through an unusually long length of hOse . The driver was normally employed on deliver ies of fuel oil and derv and .had not been furnished with a copy of the Petr oleum Regulati ons .

Fines of £25 .00 under Regulation 26 and £50 .00 under Regulation 12(2) (in r es pect of the key ) wer e imposed with £10.00 costs . A fur ther charge under Regul ation 12(2) i n r espect of the open manlid was wi thdr awn .