THE?maintenance systems at Northlew- based Carmel Coaches have been described as a 'shambles' by a judge. The comments were made at an appeal against a decision in June to strip the company, which ran school buses to Okehampton College and Hatherleigh, South Tawton and Halwill Primary schools, of its operating licence for 'woeful' safety failures. The Upper Tribunal heard Carmel Coaches' MOT failure rate was double the 18% national average. The hearing on Tuesday was told that a brake defect was reported eight times before something was done , while a jammed emergency exit was not fixed when it was first highlighted. Tony Hazell, who runs Carmel Coaches, which also has a depot in Exeter, admitted the company had expanded too fast but said maintenance had improved. Judge Jacqueline Beech, who chaired the tribunal, asked: 'How did we go from a compliant operator to what can be politely decribed as a shambles.' One of the firm's vehicles was involved in a coach crash at Looe in Cornwall in May where two people died. No defects were found on the vehicle and the traffic commissioner who revoked Carmel's licence gathered her evidence before the crash and said her decision did not reflect the incident. Speaking after the incident Mr Hazell said there had been a considerable increase in business for the company as two large firms had gone out of business in Exeter. But, because of this it had been a bit difficult to keep control. The company said it had learned lessons and put in a maintenance regime inluding better training and employing more experts. A judgement on the appeal could take up to four weeks.