Road Traffic Act 1991

15 Removal of prohibitions

(1) For section 72 of the [1988 c. 52.] Road Traffic Act 1988 there shall be substituted—

“72 Removal of prohibitions

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a prohibition under section 69 or 70 of this Act may be removed by any vehicle examiner or authorised constable if he is satisfied that the vehicle is fit for service.

(2) If the prohibition has been imposed with a direction under section 69A(1) or (2) of this Act, the prohibition shall not be removed unless and until the vehicle has been inspected in accordance with the direction.

(3) If the prohibition has been imposed with a direction under section 69A(3) of this Act, subsection (1) above shall not apply; but the prohibition shall be removed, by such person as may be prescribed, if (and only if) any prescribed requirements relating to the inspection of the vehicle and the issue and production of a test certificate have been complied with.

(4) If the prohibition has been imposed with a direction under section 69A(4) of this Act, the prohibition shall not be removed unless and until any prescribed requirements relating to the inspection of the vehicle have been complied with.

(5) A person aggrieved by the refusal of a vehicle examiner or authorised constable to remove a prohibition may, within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, appeal to the Secretary of State.

(6) The Secretary of State may make such order on the appeal as he thinks fit.

(7) Where a vehicle examiner or authorised constable removes a prohibition, he must forthwith give notice of the removal to the owner of the vehicle.

(8) The Secretary of State may require the payment of fees, in accordance with prescribed scales and rates, for the inspection of a vehicle with a view to the removal of a prohibition; and—

(a) payment of fees may be required to be made in advance, and

(b) the Secretary of State must ensure that all the scales and rates prescribed for the purposes of this subsection are reasonably comparable with—

(i) in the case of goods vehicles, the fees charged by virtue of section 51(1)(h) in respect of periodic examination, and

(ii) in the case of other vehicles, the fees charged by virtue of section 46(c).

(9) The Secretary of State may make regulations for prescribing anything which may be prescribed under this section and for regulating the procedure, and fees payable, on appeals to him under subsection (5) above.

(10) In this section “authorised constable” means a constable authorised to act for the purposes of this section by or on behalf of a chief officer of police.

72A Official testing stations

The Secretary of State may provide and maintain stations (in this Part of this Act referred to as “official testing stations”) where inspections of goods vehicles for the purposes of section 72 may be carried out and may provide and maintain the apparatus for carrying out such inspections.”