Centrewest London Buses fined £400,000

Date: 21/12/2009

Centrewest London Buses - part of the First Group based in Westminster - has been fined £400,000, following an incident in which one of its employees died after being crushed at a bus garage in Uxbridge.

The bus company admitted to breaking health and safety regulations at Southwark Crown Court last week.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the employee was preparing a bus at the station in Uxbridge Bus Garage when he was hit by a bus which lurched backwards. The employee Robert Cherry, 59, died at the scene.

An investigation by the HSE found traffic management at the garage was poor and the area overcrowded.

The HSE also found ten of the company's 60 buses were significantly faulty, with four found to have a defective gear selector similar to that of the bus that struck Mr Cherry.

HSE inspector Bill Hazleton commented: "The company's traffic management system was poor and its processes for maintaining vehicles and for identifying and repairing defects were inadequate."

Meanwhile bus and train operator National Express has announced it is on track to meet profit forecasts, despite a tough year for the company.