The West Midlands Traffic Area Traffic Commissioner Miles Dorrington has ordered unsafe Lugg Valley buses off the road after several buses were discovered to have safety faults. One bus recently caught on fire while carrying school passengers. A tyre at risk of blow out, defective brakes and a wheel at risk of falling off are among the faults discovered by the Commissioner who described the situation as “the worst PSV fleet inspection that I have ever seen”. This means we do not know that the Ludlow Hereford via Leominster 490 service is running today or will run in the future.
Shropshire Council does not support or oversee the 490 service. Herefordshire Council told the Hereford Times: “Bus services in the county are provided by independent operators rather than the council and that the council does not have network management responsibilities.” While Shropshire has chosen a proactive, interventionist model to preserve network continuity, Herefordshire has chosen a minimalist, market-led model, emphasising that the council is not the operator of last resort. So unlike Shropshire, we can’t expect any council bail out of the service (and even in Shropshire such action is threatened by the dismally low bus settlement from the government this year and its dire financial situation).
The Commissioner’s action follows a serious incident in November 2024 when a vehicle caught fire whilst transporting students. A subsequent unannounced maintenance investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) uncovered systemic failings across the operator’s fleet.
In what Traffic Commissioner Dorrington described as “the worst PSV fleet inspection that I have ever seen” in his 17 years as a Deputy and full-time Traffic Commissioner, all six vehicles inspected on 9 January 2025 received prohibition notices. Three vehicles received immediate “S” marked prohibitions proving significant maintenance failures.
The condition of three of the coaches was alarming:
- One found with three out of six wheel nuts loose on the nearside wheel. The wheel re-torque tag from six weeks earlier contained a warning from the tyre fitter stating: “New wheels needed!!! Customer use at their own risk!!!” No action had been taken.
- Another with an air leak was so severe that air pressure could not be sustained even with the engine running at fast idle. The vehicle was not in a roadworthy condition and posed obvious risks to passenger and road safety.
- Yet another where the driver’s main mirror glass was insufficiently repaired, impairing the driver’s view to the rear. The tailgate would not secure in the closed position and could fly open inadvertently.
Just 12 days after this inspection, a fourth vehicle was found at Wigmore School carrying schoolchildren with a tyre bulge that could have failed at any time and a significant fuel leak that created a fire risk to passengers and a serious slip hazard to cyclists and motorcyclists.
The DVSA’s examination of Preventative Maintenance Inspection (PMI) records found none were fully compliant. Not a single PMI record showed a satisfactory brake test had been conducted – a fundamental safety requirement.
Miles Dorrington concluded: “The operator and transport manager were repeatedly putting passenger and road safety at real, and sometimes very serious, risk over a long period of time.”
Lugg Valley Travel Ltd, its sole director Mr Nigel Yeomans and transport manager Mr Ian Davies have been disqualified from holding or obtaining any type of operator’s licence for four years from 31 December 2025 until 30 December 2029
In his decision, Miles Dorrington said, “There is absolutely no place in the passenger service industry for an operator like this… merely revoking the operator’s licence would fail to properly reflect the gravity of this case.”
I am puzzled that the DVSA and Traffic don’t pursue criminal prosecution in these cases. There is plenty of legislation that would support a prosecution including the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, even if an accident hasn’t happened. We shouldn’t have buses on our roads that are potential killers.