South Wales transport firm Media Link Cardiff's vehicle licence has been curtailed after employing a "dangerously incompetent" transport manager.

Traffic Commissioner for Wales, Nick Jones, said the existing and former directors of Media Link Cardiff had been naive and failed in their responsibilities, in a written decision issued this month.

The company, which operates from bases in Cardiff, Swansea and Pontyclun, will be restricted to operating eight vehicles and eight trailers until 1 September 2015. It was previously allowed to operate 12 vehicles and 12 trailers.

The Traffic Commissioner also said the company's good repute had been "severely tarnished".

The firm's former transport manager, David Emmett, was disqualified from working in that role. The Commissioner found that he had obtained an Acquired Rights Certificate through a false declaration. When Emmett applied for the certificate, he indicated that he had 10 years uninterrupted and continuous work in the industry but this was not true. In November 2007, he lost his repute as a transport manager, preventing him from working in that role.

In correspondence with the Traffic Commissioner's office in March 2014, Emmett said he had been in the industry for around 40 years and had very few problems with the enforcement bodies.

However, records revealed he had been disqualified as a director for six months in 2003, after his company's licence was revoked and the firm disqualified from holding a licence. In 2006, his good repute as a transport manager was severely tarnished. Another one of his companies also had a licence application refused.

Jones said: "I asked whether he regarded the revocation of a licence as a very minor problem. He replied 'Yes I do'. This suggested to me that either he is dishonest or he has appalling judgement - or both.

"I have no hesitation in confirming that David Emmett is not to be trusted."

He added: "Both the existing and former directors have been naive and failing in their responsibility to assess risks in appointing a transport manager without carrying due diligence. The fact that they knew that there was a revocation involved ought to have alerted them to the need to check out the facts. Instead they merely accepted what David Emmett told them."

The company agreed to two undertakings, including that David Emmett would not play any part in the management, administration or control of the company.

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