The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain have revoked the operator licence of Scorpion Engineering Ltd following a public inquiry held in Bristol in October 2025. The decision, taken by Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney, will take effect from 24 January 2026. An appeal against the ruling has since been lodged, together with an application for a stay.
According to the regulator, the inquiry examined persistent and serious breaches of licence undertakings, including repeated vehicle overloading, failures to comply with tachograph rules and poor maintenance standards. The Commissioner found the company’s compliance history to be “truly dreadful”, noting that over a five-year period the operator accumulated twelve prohibitions and five fixed penalties despite running a fleet of just seven authorised vehicles.
The decision states that the company’s director, Nigel Hannon, acted recklessly by knowingly operating vehicles beyond their design limits and by continuing to do so despite enforcement warnings. Mr Rooney concluded that both the company and its director had lost their good repute.
In his written decision, the Commissioner said he could not be confident that the operator would comply with the rules in the future, citing repeated failings over a lengthy period and what he described as “cynical risk taking”. He also referred to a history of enforcement encounters and to the continued use of vehicles that lacked sufficient load capacity, even after this had been highlighted by enforcement authorities.
The revocation follows earlier regulatory action against the operator, including a previous public inquiry in 2017. While some improvements were noted at points, the Commissioner found that deliberate and reckless decisions continued, including the operation of unsuitable vehicles with trailers and the failure to introduce robust systems for load management.
As a result of the decision, the operator licence will cease on 24 January 2026. The company’s application for a new transport manager was withdrawn during the process.
An update published by the regulator confirms that an appeal has now been lodged against the revocation, along with an application to stay the decision pending the outcome.
