In a written decision, following a Public Inquiry in Bristol on 3 June 2026, Commissioner Dorrington revoked Hampshire Group Southern Ltd’s restricted operator’s licence, which authorised two vehicles. He also proposed disqualifying both the company and its sole director, Vicky Steere, from holding or obtaining any operator’s licence for two years.
The company, previously known as JCT Group Holdings Ltd, had been granted its licence in July 2025 subject to a specific undertaking that a director would complete an approved operator licence management course and provide evidence of attendance. The Traffic Commissioner found that undertaking had been breached and that no satisfactory explanation had been provided.
The inquiry heard that the operator repeatedly failed to respond properly to regulatory correspondence. Despite reminders, warning letters and a formal Request for Explanation, key questions from the OTC went unanswered. The Commissioner found that the company failed to co-operate with the regulator and did not engage appropriately with correspondence sent on behalf of the Traffic Commissioner.
Further concerns arose when the operator failed to comply with Case Management Directions issued ahead of the Public Inquiry. Required maintenance and drivers’ hours records were not submitted in advance and much of the requested evidence was still missing on the day of the hearing.
Commissioner Dorrington said, “This is an unusual case in that it centres around the operator’s failure to co-operate with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner and the Traffic Commissioner.”
In his written decision, Mr Dorrington described the case like this because it centred not on evidence from DVSA investigations, but on the operator’s ongoing failure to engage with the regulatory process.
He went on to conclude that he had “absolutely no confidence or trust” that the operator would comply with the licensing regime in future and found that the business was no longer fit to hold an operator’s licence.
The Commissioner also highlighted the conduct of the sole director, stating that the failures to co-operate with the Traffic Commissioner and the OTC had led him to the “unequivocal conclusion” that neither the operator nor its director could be trusted.
The licence will be revoked with effect from 2345 hours on 2 August 2026. Proposed two-year disqualification orders against both the company and Mrs Steere will also take effect from that time and date unless a hearing is requested by 13 July 2026.
For full details of the decision, visit the Traffic Commissioner Regulatory Decisions page
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