AN Appleton man – who operated a private hire taxi without a licence – has been fined £1,240 following an investigation by trading standards.

Michael Nolan, 47, of Woodbridge Close, pleaded guilty to two offences at Warrington Magistrates' Court last Wednesday.

They were knowingly permitting a vehicle to be used as a private hire vehicle without it having a current licence to operate and knowingly allowing a driver who was not licensed as a private hire taxi driver to operate a vehicle.

Warrington Borough Council's enforcement officers stopped a private hire vehicle owned by Optimum Travel Ltd at Manchester Airport in September last year.

They believed it to be an 'additionally conditioned' private hire vehicle due to the fact that it had no borough council branding.

The driver, Kevin Glass, was unable to confirm if the vehicle held a current private hire vehicle licence and said he would check with Nolan, the owner of Optimum Travel.

Mr Glass also admitted he did not hold a council-issued private hire driver badge and provided a job sheet showing the private hire journeys he had completed that day.

The authority's licensing office was contacted by Nolan the following day.

He stated that he was operating legally under a VOSA licence.

However, enquiries carried out with VOSA confirmed that Nolan had surrendered his operator's licence for two vehicles in 2014 and that Optimum Travel was no longer licensed to provide private hire services.

At interview, Nolan explained he had been under the impression that he still held a valid operator's licence because he had found the operators disc in a drawer and it had not expired.

Using this disc, he had allowed Mr Glass to drive his own, personal vehicle to pick up passengers on behalf of Optimum Travel.

Nolan was ordered to pay £400 for each of the two offences, £400 contribution towards costs and a victim surcharge of £40 – a total of £1,240.

The council's regulatory services unit manager Dave Watson said: "Operating a taxi service without a licence is a serious offence and we will always take action against any individual or company who does this.

"It's part of our work to protect the public and the legitimate interests of responsible licensed drivers and operators."

Mr Nolan will now be referred to the taxi licensing sub-committee.

Nolan's solicitor explained the defendant has since resigned as a director of Optimum Travel, with his wife now taking on this role.

He also expressed his client's regret over the situation and said it was a genuine mistake.