The Motor Spirit (Regulation) Act, 1948
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4902200407 |
| Author | T. O. Mills |
| Date | 01 October 1949 |
| Published date | 01 October 1949 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
280
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
The lighting arrangement shown comprises two zoo-watt lamps in
intensive type reflectors which have white enamel linings. These are pre-
ferred to arc lamps, being better beamed and capable of being turned in
any direction on their angle brackets. Exposures on bromide paper vary
from ten seconds to two minutes according to contrast in articles or prints
being photographed.
The
Motor Spirit (Regulation) Act, 1948
By
INSPECTOR
T.
O.
MILLS
Huntingdonshire
Constabulary
Asaresult of the deliberations by and the recommendation of
the
Russell Vick Committee, the Motor Spirit (Regulation) Act, 1948,
was passed and came into operation on
June
rst, 1948.
The
Act undoubtedly is primarily to prevent ' Black
Market'
trading and to ensure the saving of petrol, and as a weapon for this it
introduces
'Commercial
petrol,' colloquially termed
'Red
petrol,'
which is simply any motor spirit with diphenylamine and a red dye
added.
The
unlawful use of Red petrol by a private motorist may lead
him
into serious trouble and debar him of the joys of motoring for
twelve
months;
an offence by a retailer of motor spirit may result in
the closing of his trade for a similar period.
Not
only does the Act impose drastic penalties on the would-be
offenders: it imposes yet another duty on
the
Police, and it is with
respect to this aspect
that
it is proposed here to deal.
It
is
not
the
intention of the writer to quote each section of
the
Act
in full,
but
only to comment on
the
points which it is
thought
will be
of assistance to police officers carrying
out
their duties
under
the
Act;
nor is it intended to quote any legal
matter
or touch on
the
question
of the actual procedure for the institution of legal proceedings
under
the Act, as for the time being proceedings will be mostly undertaken
by the Treasury Solicitor's Office.
There
are sixteen sections in the Act,
but
the most common offences
with which police officers will have to deal are those
under
Section
I,
Section 2and Section 3(2).
By Retailers: Offences created by section Iof theAct are (a) supply-
ing petrol from a
pump
not
marked'
Private'
or ' Commercial "
(b)
having commercial petrol in a
pump
which is
not
marked 'Commer-
cial,' and
(c)
supplying commercial petrol into the tank of a private
motor vehicle.
By Motorists: Section 2(I): Owner and person in charge of a
private motor vehicle having commercial petrol in
the
tank of private
motor vehicle.
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