Traffic Commissioner Joan Aitken informed George Davidson that he would be disqualified from driving HGVs and could not re-apply for his professional licence until his 75th birthday after he was found to have falsified tachograph records.

It was the second such offence. The offending driver was fined £600 after a court found he had disconnected the tachograph before a crash in 1996 that left a man dead.

During the public inquiry, the Traffic Commissioner heard evidence from a VOSA traffic examiner. An examination of the tachograph records revealed 69 instances where they had been falsified and breaches of drivers' hours regulations, including failure to take legal breaks, daily and weekly rest offences and excess driving time.

An inspection of the vehicle also revealed that it had been fitted with a device that allowed the tachograph record to be interrupted.

Handing the lifetime ban, the Traffic Commissioner said "Given that a previous long disqualification did not cure him, the period of disqualification has to be for life. He has lost his professional competence and repute."