A COURT has ordered thousands of pounds of compensation to be paid to a Dorset resident who was sold a horsebox van conversion with a false milage reading.

Classic Conversions Ltd, which is based in Carlton-in-Lindrick, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, admitted four offences of misleading a consumer during a sale.

They were handed a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £8,260 compensation and costs of £2,079 by Bournemouth Magistrates.

The court heard that Susie Huntbach, of Dorset, purchased a horsebox Classic Conversions Ltd on Ebay last year.

It was advertised as a 3.5 tonne converted Vauxhall Movano van with a 1,280kg capacity which had travelled 130,000 miles.

Officers investigated and found that the vehicle had actually travelled over 190,000 miles and so it been ‘clocked’ by 60,000 miles. Also the payload capacity was only 760kg, over half a tonne less than that advertised.

This made the van unusable for Miss Huntbach as her two horses weighed considerably more than this.

The court heard that the company had not checked the mileage or the weight of the vehicle through a lack of experience in this field rather than any deliberate act on their part.

Neil Martin, principal trading standards officer for Dorset County Council, said : “Even if there had been no other problems with the vehicle apart from the mis-described capacity, if Miss Huntbach had been driving the van with two horses on board, the vehicle would have been significantly overloaded which may have been a safety issue.

“I would urge consumers buying such vehicles to take extreme care. Ask the seller for the un-laden weight of the converted van before committing to the purchase and as with all vehicle purchases take care to investigate the history of the vehicle through the various companies that offer these services.”