The National Transport Authority (NTA) is facing criticism after the first round of its Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Grant Scheme for taxi drivers closed within just 15 minutes of opening.

The scheme, which offers up to €15,000 towards the purchase of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, saw an overwhelming response, with around 2,000 applications received before the system was closed.

This prompted Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín to call for an immediate review of the NTA’s technical systems.

“For all the grants to be allocated in just fifteen minutes is crazy,” Tóibín said. “This means the current grant is incredibly limited and difficult to secure, currently only available to a tiny cohort of applicants.”

Tóibín recounted the experience of one taxi driver who was online at 10am when the application window opened but was “locked out by 10:15am.”

This leaves many drivers facing a six-month wait until the next application round in July, with no guarantee of success.

“The Government has asked the taxi industry to ensure more of its vehicles are accessible for people with disabilities, and this is a fair request,” Tóibín stated. “But it seems bizarre that when drivers then try to draw down a grant to help them buy accessible vehicles, the grants are all gone.”

The NTA acknowledged a “large number of applicants” over-whelmed the system, leading to a temporary slowdown.

However, they also pointed out that many new taxi licences for WAVs are issued without grant assistance.

This incident highlights the signi-ficant demand for wheelchair- accessible taxis and the challenges faced by drivers in accessing financial support to meet this growing need.

The NTA is now tasked with reviewing its application process to ensure a more equitable and efficient distribution of these grants.

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Taxi drivers in Great Yarmouth are expressing frustration over being displaced from their long-standing rank as part of a £2 million revamp of the Market Gates bus station.

The project, spearheaded by Norfolk County Council, involves creating a new bus lane, necessitating the removal of the taxi rank outside The Troll Cart pub, a fixture for nearly three decades.

While a larger rank is planned for Theatre Plain, drivers are already experiencing "chaos" with the current disruption.

One driver, a veteran of almost 30 years, criticised the "childish" signage directing passengers to the alternative rank.

"The situation is an absolute mess," he lamented. "They can spend £2 million on buses, but the signs are embarrassingly bad. It shows disrespect to us."

Once the groundwork is complete in May, taxis will be restricted to the Temple Road rank, outside the Wetherspoon pub, between 11pm and 5pm.

"The Troll Cart was the best location," explained another driver with a decade of experience.

"It was a popular meeting point, especially for those heading to the dog races or banger racing. It was convenient for customers, and now it's dangerous for people leaving the pub to find us tucked away."

Despite initial complaints, another driver acknowledged that "people just complain about change."

He expressed hope that once the work is finished and people adapt, the situation will improve.

The county council maintains that the project will enhance transport infrastructure, improve bus journey times, and boost the local economy.

This disruption coincides with a potential fare increase for taxi journeys in Great Yarmouth.

The borough council is considering raising the standard fare from £7.40 to £8, with night-time rates starting an hour earlier at 9pm and fares to increase by 10p to £9.30.

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A machete and lock knife were retrieved by officers tasked with taking blades off the city’s streets.

The knife crime team snapped into action after spotting some behaviour that aroused their suspicions near Nottingham city centre.

After seeing a suspect get into a taxi already containing two people, a plain clothed officer made the decision to trail the vehicle for a short while. 

When the rest of the specialist team caught up, the officers worked in tandem to bring the taxi to a stop as it made its way through Old Basford.

Believing three people in the back of the vehicle could be carrying weapons, stop and searches were conducted, around 12.20pm on Tuesday, 7 January.

These suspicions were quickly proven to be accurate, as a sheathed machete and a large lock knife were found and seized.

Three men, aged 19, 19 and 20, were all subsequently arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article in a public place.

PC Ken Tinley, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Stops like this are exactly what our knife crime team was set up to try and achieve.

“Let’s be clear – there is never an excuse to carry a machete, lock knife, or any other blade for that matter, while out in a public setting.

“Doing this puts everyone in danger, including the person in possession of that weapon, which is an incredibly serious offence that will always be met with a robust police response.

“Our team goes out on our daily patrols with a clear intention of targeting potential knife-carriers, bringing suspects into custody, and taking any weapons we find out of harm’s way.

“We were able to achieve all three in this instance – making three arrests in the process – so this proved to be a very successful job all-round.”  

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A Birmingham taxi driver has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a sophisticated criminal network that trafficked cocaine and firearms across the north of England. 

Safdar Pervez, 57, from Edgbaston, operated under the EncroChat handle "Satanicgate," acting as a trusted courier for the gang led by convicted drug lord Carl O'Flaherty.   

The National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, codenamed Operation Venetic, dismantled the group after infiltrating the encrypted communication platform EncroChat.

The gang, active from 2019 to 2020, sourced large quantities of cocaine and chemicals used to produce amphetamine.

"Chefs" within the network, including Michal Stanislawczuk ("Sizabelarm," "Polishshaman") and David Brierley ("Kingchef-uk"), oversaw drug production at locations in Leeds and Bradford. 

Pervez played a crucial role in transporting drugs and vast sums of cash across the region, including deliveries of cocaine to high-level customer Daryll Hall in County Durham.   

Hall, sentenced to 15 years in his absence after absconding, received kilos of diluted cocaine from Pervez. 

Stanislawczuk was jailed for 12 years for his involvement in drug production, including a failed attempt to extract cocaine from 37 liters of oil.

Brierley, the amphetamine producer, received a 12-year and six-month sentence.   

NCA Operations Manager Nigel Coles stated: "This investigation has dismantled a dangerous network, from the leader to the couriers transporting drugs and firearms across the north of England.

"Significant quantities of drugs have been removed from our communities, along with deadly firearms. This sends a strong message that the NCA is committed to protecting the public from serious and organised crime."

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The High Court has upheld the decision of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in a legal battle over the refusal to renew taxi licences for six drivers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The drivers, whose vehicles exceeded the council's eight-year age limit for licensed taxis, argued that the pandemic constituted exceptional circumstances that warranted an exemption to the policy.

Initially, a district judge upheld the drivers' appeal, ruling that the pandemic justified a one-year extension to their licences.

The drivers argued they couldn't afford to replace their vehicles due to the significant decline in business during the pandemic. One said his income had fallen from £16,000 to £9,000.

However, Welwyn Hatfield Council appealed the decision to the High Court.

Mr. Justice Linden, in his judgment, overturned the district court's ruling, stating that the pandemic alone did not automatically qualify as an exceptional circumstance. He emphasised that the impact of the pandemic should be assessed on a case-by-case basis for each driver.

Furthermore, the judge ruled that the original hearing should have focused on whether the licences should be extended at the time of the appeal in 2022, not whether they should have been extended at the time of the initial refusal.

Mr. Justice Linden expressed concern that the district judge's ruling could set a precedent where any driver facing financial hardship could claim an exception, potentially undermining the council's policy.

"We are pleased with the High Court judgment which provides clarity on the application of the council’s policy on renewing taxi licenses," stated a spokesperson for Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

The council is now seeking to recover legal costs from the taxi drivers and the West and Central Hertfordshire Magistrates' Court.

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