North-Devon haulier Evans Transport slipped into the red after being forced to write-down an exceptional charge of £310,000 relating to its Anchor Mill, Barnstable depot.

Evans Transport posted a pre-tax loss of £149,552 for the 12 months ending 31 March 2012, compared to a pre-tax profit of £150,391 in the previous period, but said it would have registered an underlying pre-tax profit of £160,000 were it not for the exceptional item.

In its annual report the haulier explained that it has dropped legal action that was due to be taken to recover compensation relating to the compulsory purchase of part of its Barnstable site in 2010. It explained that in dropping the action its hope was to speed up the process and get a resolution to the future of the site.

Turnover at the Palletforce member remained broadly static year-on-year at £15.6m (2011: £15.5m).