Garage owner fights council’s order to remove ramp

Health and safety dispute leaves College Street Motors confused over 'flawed' enforcement notice

Garage owner fights council’s order to remove ramp
College Street Motors owner, Mr Bandha said the council's argument makes no sense.

Garage owner, Roop Bandha has been ordered to remove his a ramp from his forecourt at College Street Motors in Kempston, Bedford for health and safety reasons, despite it having been there for three years.

Bedford Borough Council issued Mr Bandha with an enforcement notice earlier this year and was told that the ramp is ‘affecting the available parking’ on the street.

He said: “I have worked hard to ensure that I fulfil all DVSA guidelines and have two ramps, one for MOTs and one for services and have more than adequate parking.

“When the council raised the issue of the covered service bay I previously had over it I responded and removed the wooden structure that was put in place.

“But now they are saying I can’t have the lift there whatsoever, which makes no sense.

“I cannot use my MOT one for services as it is against the law, so without the service ramp I could go out of business.”

He argues that he is out of pocket for the work, which included knocking down a building converting the space into extra parking when he installed his indoor MOT ramp at a cost of more than £160,000.

He added: “I have tried to do this by the book, I have spent a lot of money on this, but they still won’t let it lie.”

A spokeswoman for Bedford Borough Council has said: “As outlined in the enforcement notice issued to the garage owner, the covered service bay and vehicle lift, both of which were added to the front of the garage around 2013, reduce the space available for parking and increases demand for on-street parking, which in turn reduces safety on the highway and the free flow of traffic.”

Mr Bandha said it’s a flawed argument because he has parking available on his forecourt and at his premises down the street for more than 13 cars.

He said: “I am not giving in to this and am willing to take this further with the council, as the argument makes no sense.”

2 Comments

  1. Sounds like the council are being rather “difficult” but then £160,000 for that amount of work and one ramp ? I find that difficult to swallow. Also it is not against the law to do service work on an MOT ramp .

    Reply
  2. Sounds like the council are being rather “difficult” but then £160,000 for that amount of work and one ramp ? I find that difficult to swallow. Also it is not against the law to do service work on an MOT ramp .

    Reply

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