Wotcher all.
Just got off the dog 'n' bone to various government agencies regarding how many people I can legally carry in the beast, ISTR there being lots of discussions on this in the past, so I thought I'd throw what I was told into the mix. The following are brief notes made during the calls.
----------
20060719 08:15
Called DVLA on 0870 240 0010, spoke about bench seats.
Told me to call marshan street construction and use regs, 0207 944
8300 Not open til 08:30. Not their area, try a colleage in DVLA
Gareth Evans, direct line 01792 *** ***, he says it is construction and use regs, they bounce calls to him all the time.
406mm longtitudinally along seat constitutes a bench seat, because I'm on an old license the 3.5 tonne limit doesn't apply to me, taxation class doesn't change going from 2 seats to 14 (mostly decided on emissions these days), don't need rear seatbelts as they weren't there when it was made (1986-on belts required on all seats, mine's a 1973).
He said I'm OK to carry 14 people in it provided it's not for hire or reward.
20060719 09:33 Roadsure insure up to the max number of people the vehicle is designed to carry (14 in my case).
----------
Needless to say I won't be carrying 14 people in it on an even remotely regular basis, I just wanted to know what the limits were if I had to carry more than 2 people, e.g. taking people home who's car has broken down, short-haul pisshead ferrying, friends/relatives who want to go for a short spin in "that thing" etc.