A LANARKSHIRE coach firm has been stripped of its licence after failing to prove it had sufficient funds to operate.
MCT Group Travel Ltd, a Motherwell-based firm offering coach and minibus hire, will be banned from running any of its 14 vehicles after March 31 following a public inquiry before the Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) for Scotland.
The company was originally called to a public inquiry in October 2013 following a change of director, when Alan James Fee was appointed to the role.
The Traffic Commissioner asked MCT Group Travel to provide bank statements verifying its financial standing by April 2014.
All bus companies are required to have a certain amount in the bank at any one time, calculated against the number of vehicles on their operating licence.
The firm was given four separate opportunities between August 2013 until March 2015 to provide satisfactory financial evidence but has failed to do so, according to DTC for Scotland, James Astle.
The inquiry heard that Mr Fee, who had worked in the transport industry since 1991, had sunk a considerable portion of his inheritance from his mother into the company which was "burdened with debt and significant maintenance problems" when he took it over in 2013.
His attempts to select and retain a suitable transport manager had been "bedevilled by difficulties and do not indicate uniform good judgement", said Mr Astle. By the time of the most recent public inquiry in December 2014, the company was on its third transport manager in three years.
Mr Fee also admitted dishonesty when he transferred money from his own bank account into the MTC Group account to make it appear the company had sufficient funds.
Mr Astle said the director had shown "keen and genuine" contrition for trying to mislead the regulators, but the company's licence would revoked nonetheless over its lack of financial standing.
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