THE organiser of a trip that ended in tragedy when two women died in a coach crash said they would not have used the firm if they had known about an investigation into its safety.
Margaret Luxton, 59, from Exmouth, and Carol Muldoon, 68, from Newton Poppleford, who both worked in care homes in Exmouth, died when the coach they were passengers in crashed near the Cornish coastal town of Looe last month.
They were travelling in a Carmel Coaches' vehicle carrying 50 people on an Exmouth Age Concern day trip.
The founder of Carmel Coaches Tony Hazell said the coach in question had been examined by several experts and was found to be free of faults.
Yesterday a report was published by the Traffic Commissioner detailing a "long-standing" and serious" catalogue of failures in maintaining the company's fleet of vehicles to an acceptable safety standard.
Steve Dace, director of Age Concern Exmouth said they had no idea about the investigation when they booked Carmel as their coach provider. He said had they known it would have affected their decision.
He said: "I was surprised and shocked at what was contained within the report in light of the fact Carmel had issued a statement stating that there were no contributory factors that caused the crash in Looe.
"We are now speaking with the benefit of hindsight. But there has clearly been concern about the company for some time. Had that knowledge been available to us it would certainly have had an influence on our choice of operator. It is a shame we were not aware of this prior to the crash in Looe.
"If we had known, we would certainly not have organised trips with that company.
"You cannot help make the connection between this report and what happened in Looe. It is the natural thing to do and certainly most of our clients who were on the coach that day have made that connection.
"On a technical basis it might be difficult to prove. But had we know that this report and the safety concerns existed we would not have used that operator."
The next coach trip planned by Exmouth Age Concern was due to take place tomorrow to Dartmouth but Mr Dace said this has now been cancelled.
"We feel it is not prudent to go on this trip knowing what we now do," he added.
"I am surprised that the commissioner chose not to release details sooner – especially in view that the company are also conducting school trips on behalf of the local authority. I am sure if any of us had known we would not have used it for obvious reasons.
"The reaction from those who were on the coach that day is that this definitely changes the landscape. It changes how we all feel about what happened in Looe."
Tony Hazell, founder of Carmel Coaches said in response: "I understand why people would link the two. The crash in Looe was such a tragic accident that has distressed us enormously. I understand why people would put two and two together. But the coach was thoroughly examined by experts over a 23 day period and no faults were found.
"Any issues we might have over maintenance standards did not apply on that occasion.
"It is very unfortunate the timing of such an accident was same time we were awaiting the outcome of this inquiry.
"The Traffic Commissioner said the tragedy in Looe did not influence her findings but it must have been in the back of her mind.
"We are not a cowboy operator trying to cut corners. We are a hard-working family business and what happened in Looe has had a devastating effect on all of us."
