A road is set to be closed for at least a few weeks after a ‘very huge’ sinkhole appeared in the street overnight.
Dunvegan Road in Eltham was closed on Monday September 11, while investigations to determine the cause were ongoing.
Residents and workers in the area have raised serious safety concerns as the hole appeared where private hire vehicles and other cars usually park.
A spokesperson for Mayday Cars, a private hire company located near the sinkhole, said they are relieved nobody was hurt.
They told KentLive: “It’s a very huge hole and deep sinkhole. It was a big shock and I am grateful it happened at the time it did because our drivers are parked out there during the day or that’s where our customers wait for their cars.
"I’m very relieved that nobody was hurt.”
The Royal Borough of Greenwich were notified of the sinkhole by the London Fire Brigade. They confirmed Dunvegan Road will be closed at the junction of Well Hall Road.
“Our investigations are ongoing to determine the cause and develop next steps," the spokesperson said.
“Until then, the area will remain closed off and reassurance visits will be taking place with neighbouring businesses.
"The road is expected to be closed for at least a few weeks and diversions will be placed."
A resident who lives nearby, and wished to remain anonymous said she could not believe how deep the hole was while on her way to Tesco.
She said: “Just imagine if a car had been parked there.
"It’s fortunate it happened at night because there could have been an accident if it had occurred during the day. The crossing is just a minute from the train station and has heavy footfall during the day.”
A fence has appeared to cordon off the hole to prevent any incidents.
The resident added: “If this had happened outside of my house I would be incredibly worried that there was a risk that my property may collapse or be on unstable ground.”
Source: https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/gallery/huge-deep-sinkhole-appears-overnight-8743829
Inverness taxi drivers are being advised to fit CCTV within their vehicles to protect themselves from abuse or threats.
The advice from the Inverness Taxi Alliance (ITA) comes after a viral video apparently showing one driver facing a lengthy tirade of racist abuse from a passenger prompted discussion on the abusive behaviour drivers and operators face.
ITA vice chairman Duncan Fraser said abuse of drivers was, sadly, nothing new.
"It is more common than you might think," he told the Inverness Courier. "Every single driver more or less will have suffered abuse of some kind or another while on shift.
"That would be especially at nights or on the weekends where drink is likely to be involved.
"I know of one driver recently, now retired, who suffered two serious incidents of abuse in just a couple of months, his vehicle was also badly damaged.
"I would say that 99 per cent of the time alcohol has been taken by those who are doling out this abuse."
He added: "There has been a large rise in the number of foreign nationals driving taxis and as a result I would say racist abuse particularly is becoming increasingly common.
"Maybe it is because in most cases when a passenger gets into your taxi you are a stranger to them and they are a stranger to you that makes then think it is OK to behave like this, bit it's not."
He said that a private online discussion group allows drivers to share information on passengers who have been abusive or threatening, ensuring they will find it difficult to access local taxi services in the future.
And pointing to how else technology can help tackle the issue he added: "We are all for protection of the public and there has rightly been a lot of discussion and initiatives to make sure passengers are safe when travelling alone in taxis.
"Equally, though, drivers have to protect themselves from those passengers who might, for whatever reason, decide it's OK to be abusive towards them.
"My advice to any driver is to get CCTV in their vehicle to have a record of what is going on.
"When I started driving very few drivers had cameras in their vehicles, now I would say that most do.
"Taxi drivers are generally well able to look after themselves – I've had threats made against me and I'm not bothered.
"Some guys, though, could be quite intimidated by it and nobody should have to just put up with that kind of thing."
Inverness area commander for Police Scotland, Chief Inspector Judy Hill, said: “This matter has not been reported to police, however officers are now carrying out enquiries into the video to identify and trace those involved.
“Any type of hate crime is completely unacceptable and this type of abuse will not be tolerated.”
Source: https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/inverness-taxi-drivers-have-to-protect-themselves-326296/
A shocking video clip has emerged of a Scots woman subjecting a taxi driver to a barrage of horrific racist abuse. The woman repeatedly hurls vile slurs at the male driver from the back seat of the vehicle.
The footage, which has been widely shared on social media, relates to an incident which took place around 11:20pm on Saturday night, 9 September.
Police Scotland has since confirmed that a 59-year-old woman has been charged in connection with a hate-crime in an Inverness taxi and is now the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal.
Officers say any type of hate crime is completely unacceptable and this type of abuse will not be tolerated.
According to the Daily Record, the CCTV footage from the taxi starts with the woman shouting: “You shouldn’t even f****** be in our country, you’re not even Scottish. Why don’t you go back to your foreign f****** country. Parasite.”
The driver, who remains calm throughout the incident, asks the woman if she has anything else to say.
She replies: “Stinky f****** parasite, that’s what you are. Let me out of here before I f****** set fire to your f****** car.”
The driver then says: “I’m taking you to the police station”.
The irate passenger responds: “Oh piss off you c***. Good luck to you. The coppers like me, they won’t like a f****** parasite like you. F****** c***. Go and f*** yourself.
“You’re a f****** t***, that’s what you are. So you f******* prisonised me here. You won’t let me out the f****** car, piss off you f******* c***.
“When we get there, let me out and I’ll be f****** off so carry on mate. You f****** waste of space, c***. What do you expect me to pay it now, do you? Turn that f****** metre off cause I’m not paying f*** all.
“I’ll say you tried it on with me so there you go so you better let me out. Dirty c***. I’ll say you tried it on because I wouldn’t pay your money. So good luck to you, you b******. “
The driver then states: “You’ve no idea, madam, that you are on a camera.” The video then cuts out as the woman replies: “Oh, I’m on a camera?”
Jim Kyle, chairman of the Scottish Taxi Federation, said: “Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve heard about incidents like this involving drivers being abused.
"Racial abuse is just not acceptable in any shape, form or size and the Scottish Taxi Federation utterly condemns it.
“This is why we would encourage all drivers to have cameras inside their vehicles. It keeps everybody safe - both drivers and our customers.”
The shameful incident has also been condemned by anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card.
In a statement, they said: "We are angry and sad at the racist abuse suffered by the taxi driver. But we are not surprised.
“This type of 'everyday' racism is happening right across the country. The racism that people have to suffer on a daily basis is horrendous.
“Our current campaign 'Migrants Make Scotland Great' shines a light on the positive contribution that immigrants have made to Scotland to counteract the relentless anti-immigrant narrative.
“We hope the racist is found by the police and charged accordingly. And the dignity and decorum shown by the driver should be an example to us all.”
The number of years taxis are allowed to be on the road in Cambridge has been increased, in what has been called a ‘lifeline to struggling drivers’.
CambridgeshireLive reports that Cambridge City Council agreed to change its policy to increase the age limit for hackney carriages from nine years to 11 years old.
The authority also agreed to change its policy for new taxi drivers who were required to have a car under four years old when applying for a licence; this age limit has been removed and instead, a new taxi is required to meet a Euro 5 standard or higher.
The change aims to give drivers more choice to buy cheaper vehicles and to increase the number of wheelchair-accessible taxis in the city.
A petition calling for the policy changes was signed by 159 taxi drivers licensed with the city council.
At a meeting of the city council’s licensing committee on Monday September 11, Ahmed Karaahmed, chairman of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, told councillors the new policy would be a “lifeline” to “struggling drivers and their families” who he said were “grappling” with the cost of living crisis.
He added: “Just to be clear we did not ask for this only for the benefit of taxi drivers, the public will have a huge benefit too, especially the most vulnerable of our city, wheelchair users.
"We have recently seen many proprietors handing back wheelchair taxi plates rather than replacing their vehicles since it is not economically viable to replace taxis in line with all the current requirements of age, emissions and livery.
“Options such as working for private hire companies with vehicles licensed with other authorities makes more economic sense to drivers.
"As a result we have seen a drop in wheelchair vehicles, especially the multi-seater models. This has also meant less access to taxis for wheelchair users as well as a reduction in revenue for the city council.”
Mr Karaahmed said the policy change would have an “immediate positive effect” by giving drivers access to a broader range of vehicles at a “more financially manageable cost”.
He said: “I would kindly ask this committee today to take a reasonable decision and vote in favour of the proposal. You do not want to get to the stage where we have no wheelchair taxis or very limited numbers of them in our streets, we do not want to leave the most vulnerable citizens in our city without transportation.”
Officers confirmed that the policy change will mostly impact wheelchair-accessible taxis, due to most of the saloon-style taxis already having been switched over to ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles.
Councillor Gerri Bird said there had been “a lot of problems” with having enough wheelchair-accessible taxis in the city, and disabled people could get “stuck at home”. She said she supported the policy change if it would help address this issue.
Councillor Naomi Bennett said: “I am quite a regular taxi user and quite often I have to go to things without my wheelchair if I have to use a taxi because I cannot get a wheelchair taxi.
"Sometimes that is not a problem because I have other mobility aids, but sometimes it really is, so I echo what Cllr Bird has said about the importance of keeping up the wheelchair-accessible numbers.”
The committee unanimously voted to approve the policy change.
Source: https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/number-years-cambridge-taxis-allowed-27697456
Electric car owners will be slapped with hefty parking fees under a series of new driving laws, according to experts.
The Express reports that specialists claim that drivers of EV cars will likely pay more for parking permits as councils are desperate to secure more cash.
Councils across the UK have dished out free parking permits for zero-emissions vehicles in a bid to encourage the take-up of new vehicles.
However, this could be about to change with some areas now bringing in changes to secure permits.
London boroughs, such as Richmond and Newham, have already ditched free resident parking permits for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Meanwhile, Kirklees Council will change its rules this September with EV owners stung.
Tim Alcock, spokesperson for LeaseElectricCar said: “With councils across the UK under immense financial pressure, they are desperately looking to make cuts and find ways to bring in more funds.
“Kirklees Council predicts they will save around £600,000 a year by charging EV owners for permits, and other councils will be eagerly watching on to see where they can make similar changes.
“Incentives like free parking and charging grants have really helped with the uptake in EV’s in the UK, and we are concerned that getting rid of these will have a severe impact on new electric car registrants.
“The use of incentives and policies have worked incredibly well overseas, especially in Norway, to help them meet EV targets and the reduction of incentives here would without a doubt hinder government targets.
“Without compelling incentives, the government's target to end the sale of all new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 seems unrealistic, so they must support councils before more are forced to make desperate cuts.”
According to the Local Government Association (LGA), without an increase in funding even well-run councils could struggle to balance the books.
However, lawmakers have defended the plans to charge EV owners with officials deflecting the blame.
Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance and Regeneration backed the new EV parking permit fees at Kirklees.
He stressed the new fees were being introduced due to the “current financial situation”.
Mr Turner told The Yorkshire Post: “The introduction of a fee for electric vehicle and hybrid permit holders still presents a big saving on standard parking fees across the year at council owned car parks so should not deter people from switching to an electric vehicle.
“Review of the parking permit schemes forms part of the wider council considerations in light of the current financial situation.”
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1810642/electric-car-parking-charges-fees-rule-changes
A local councillor has sparked a debate on passenger safety after claiming that using locally licensed taxis is safer than hailing an Uber.
A taxi driver was attacked and subjected to racist abuse after two brothers refused to pay him up front.
Christopher Hilling, 64, admitted to engaging a child in sexual activity at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 8 August.
Abdigani Ebrahim, 38, of Grangetown, admitted charges of affray and criminal damage following the incident in Northcote Street, Roath, last July.
The crackdown targeted drivers operating across council boundaries to ensure public safety and compliance with regulations.
Lucio Valentino relies on his six-year-old Border Collie, Pixel, to help manage his mental health conditions, including depression and personality disorders.
Taxi drivers across the Fylde Coast are set to receive a briefing note aimed at clearing up confusion over out-of-area private hire vehicles.
Police are appealing to find a taxi driver who may have "vital clues" about the murder of Ryan Passey seven years ago since he was fatally stabbed in a Stourbridge nightclub.
A joint operation by Hull City Council, Wolverhampton Council, and Humberside Police has uncovered a number of safety issues with taxis operating in the city.
French taxi drivers are calling for government compensation after suffering significant revenue losses during the Paris Olympics.
Coventry city centre has introduced a new taxi marshal service aimed at improving safety and efficiency for late-night revellers.
A court heard harrowing details of the moment a drink-driving uninsured motorist killed three people in a 90mph crash.
The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans was amongst the thousands who enjoyed the Battle Proms at Highclere Castle on 3 August.
Swindon residents could be facing a hike in taxi fares from October after councillors gave the green light to a £1 increase in the standard fare minimum charge.
Ricky Harold, a 20-year veteran of the town’s taxi trade, was parked in a lay-by when his vehicle was struck from behind by a black Audi A2.
Chinese automotive giant Geely has deepened its commitment to the UK electric vehicle market with a £120m cash injection into London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC).
North Tyneside Council is facing a backlash over plans to increase taxi fares by 6.3%.
Nazim Asmal preyed on his victims after nights out in Preston and Darwen, driving them to secluded spots before carrying out horrific sexual assaults.
Newcastle is set to see a surge in pink taxis driven by women as part of a new initiative aimed at improving passenger safety.
An unlicensed taxi driver who picked up two vulnerable women in Aberdare has been ordered to pay nearly £1,500 in fines and costs.