Stretching a point

If you are a fat cat industrialist, celebrity or pop star, you owe Lorraine Smith, solicitor at London firm Rowe & Cohen, a debt of gratitude...If you are a fat cat industrialist, celebrity or pop star, you owe Lorraine Smith, solicitor at London firm Rowe & Cohen, a debt of gratitude.

Ms Smith may be right to claim, and she does, that the future of the stretch limousine is safe because of her quick-thinking.

Following the prosecution of her limo-operating client by the vehicle inspectorate for failing to hold a public service vehicle licence the limo, it was said, could hold 10 people, over the necessary limit for a licence Ms Smith pulled out all the stops to prove them wrong.

Having delved into case law and scoured the library for precedents, Ms Smith argued that the offending vehicle could seat only eight people.

To prove her point, she brought the car to court and invited the magistrates to test it out.

In a moment of good sense, the magistrates found in favour of Ms Smiths argument supported by the fact that the car was only fitted with eight seat belts and the manufacturers statement that it was an eight-seater vehicle.

That will be a win to Ms Smith and a resounding loss for the vehicle inspectorate.