MINIBUS DILEMMA
I am writing in response to 'For hire or reward?' (Work Matters, 29 October). We visited a farm in our minibus and on arrival, found Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) officials waiting to check bus drivers' licences, bus seat numbers and whether a tachograph was fitted or not.
The officials told us that we were driving our minibus illegally as it had 16 seats, that we had an incorrect people-carrying licence and that if we were charging parents for trips, the minibus should have a tachograph.
They then put a prohibition order on the minibus, preventing us from using it for any purpose - even getting back to the nursery. We then had to put all the children, including six who were under the age of two, into taxis. This involved transferring the under-twos' car seats - which each parent had fitted safely - from the bus to the taxis.
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