One of the biggest agricultural haulage firms in Wales has been ordered to stop operations on 3 May.

The company, L E Jones which is based at Ruthin in Clwyd, moves livestock, hay, straw, fertiliser and machinery in and out of North Wales.

But traffic commissioners took the action after finding that L E Jones Ltd had failed to comply with undertakings to have proper arrangements in place to ensure compliance with drivers’ hours and tachograph rules.

In February Flint Magistrates found 20 of the company’s drivers had committed offences, and some were found to have kept false records.

A Vehicle and Operator Services Agency investigation followed and concluded that both management and staff failed to abide by the rules, and by so doing compromised their own safety and that of others.

The ban affects both the parent company and its international wing, which together operate 70 vehicles and 150 trailers, including six multi-deck livestock transporters worth over £300,000 each.

Brynle Williams, Welsh Assembly member for North Wales, said he was gravely concerned about the impact on farming if the company’s appeal against the ban failed.

“L E Jones is the biggest haulage firm in the area and employs over 100 people,” Mr Williams said. “It not only moves 1000s of cattle and sheep every week, it shifts hay and straw, fertiliser and livestock feed and machinery.

“Trefor Jones, who built the company from almost nothing, has strong farming ties, and even buys sheep on commission for abattoirs.”

Glyn Owens, principal of Ruthin Farmers Auction Company, which operates a major livestock market adjacent to the transport firm’s base, claimed the ban, if upheld at appeal, would have serious consequence for both farming and the local economy.