Blackpool taxi drivers are demanding action to stop rogue private hire drivers operating in the resort – which they warn is putting passengers at risk.
LancLive reports that hackney drivers are angry after witnessing out-of-town private hire vehicles using the ranks to ply for trade.
Taxi drivers are now calling on the council to take action to prevent uninsured vehicles plying for hire on ranks, but town hall officials say legislation means their hands are tied.
Jurisdiction remains with the council where the taxi was licensed, even if it is operating in Blackpool.
Dee Grant, a director of C Cabs, based in Caunce Street, said: “Enforcement have for some time now been made aware of the problems the trade is facing regarding unlicensed vehicles coming into Blackpool.
“They are illegally plying for trade either by driving up and down the Promenade or more alarmingly sitting on the taxi ranks.”
She called on police and council enforcement teams “to challenge these individuals.” She added: “It is a criminal offence as they are driving without insurance when they take unbooked jobs.”
Ms Grant says she fears it could lead to rogue drivers using fake signage to pretend to be taxi drivers.
Andrew Yates, who has been a hackney cab driver in Blackpool for 32 years, confronted a rogue driver on the Dickson Road rank.
He said: “I’m worried because we have drivers, who have not gone through any vetting procedures in Blackpool, picking up youngsters in uninsured vehicles. People are flagging down cabs and taking journeys in unvetted vehicles, and there are a lot of vulnerable people in this town so I think it’s a matter of public safety.”
Blackpool Council said it shared the concerns of drivers and is investigating what action it can take.
John Blackledge, director of community and environmental services, said: “The issue of private hire vehicles and the location to which they are registered is an issue nationally and not unique to Blackpool.
“Blackpool Council’s Licensing Service is ultimately responsible for all regulatory matters associated with its licensed fleet.
"In practical terms this means that at the point we are observing vehicles/drivers and generally conducting enforcement activity, we can take action against Blackpool licensees, however we have no power to deal with any issues detected regarding licensed vehicles/drivers from other areas.
“If we did detect issues, we would pass those concerns over to the respective authority for them to deal with. Sadly that is a situation that is outside of our control.
“Taxi operators have alerted us to instances of private hire vehicles using the taxi ranks.
“We know how frustrating this is for them and we share those concerns.
"We are in the process of looking at what appropriate enforcement we are able to take.”
Source: https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackpool-taxi-drivers-call-action-27353302
A woman held a knife to the throat of a cabbie and demanded he hand over his cash during a terrifying early morning robbery attempt.
Derby Crown Court heard how Keavey Toal was also involved in a number of separate crimes committed during a period of around a year, the 23-year-old assaulted police officers and damaged property, including smashing a glass door at the Royal Derby Hospital. DerbyshireLive reports that
According to DerbyshireLive, Lauren Butts, prosecuting, said the knifepoint robbery took place at around 1.45am on April 11, 2022. She said the driver was sent to an address in the city to pick up the defendant and when she got into the passenger seat of the cab he asked for money for the fare upfront.
The prosecutor said: “She said she did not have any money and that she would get it from her mum when he dropped her off at home.
"He explained the company policy and spoke to his control room which eventually agreed to her request and he asked for her mobile phone (as insurance).
“They arrived at her home and she went into the block of flats to get the money. When she came back she was shouting, demanding he hand her the phone back.
"She got back in the passenger seat, leaned towards him and he felt something pressed against his neck.
“She said if he did not return her mobile phone she would stab him and reached over and got it. She then demanded he hand over money still while holding the knife to his throat.
“He said he did not have any money, she got out and he called his control room who called the police.”
Miss Butts said after being arrested and questioned Toal gave a prepared statement.
In it she said: “I am not guilty, I have not robbed any taxi driver, I have not threatened any taxi driver and I have not held a knife to any taxi driver’s throat”.
The prosecutor then outlined other offences committed by the defendant separate to the attempted robbery.
The defendant pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, threatening a person with a bladed article, three counts of assault of an emergency worker and three counts of criminal damage.
Her criminal record of 16 convictions for 44 offences includes a previous robbery and attempted robbery from when she was aged 16, a knife offence and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Chris Hallas, mitigating, said his client was aware he was addressing the judge solely on the length of sentence she would receive. He said she has been remanded in custody on all of the matters since early January of this year and has “a history of severe trauma since childhood”.
Jailing Toal for two and a half years, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “When you are high, or using alcohol or as a consequence of your mental health, you are a danger.
"The taxi driver was petrified, it’s not just physical injury there are also psychological injuries like the sort you have suffered.
“Taking a knife out was a conscious decision, it was a knife that was pretty frightening, it was not like a penknife, it was an eight-inch knife.
"You wanted to get your phone back and you also thought you would try and get some money. That was a conscious decision, he was a taxi driver and taxi drivers deserve to be protected.”
Source: https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/broken-woman-held-eight-inch-8613858
A much-requested free private hire service from Northampton bus station to the temporary market has launched.
According to the Northampton Chronicle, Bounds Taxis will be running the service, which launched on Tuesday July 18, and West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) will foot the bill.
This comes after market traders were moved to Commercial Street at the beginning of the year while £8.4 million refurbishment works are completed at Market Square.
Since moving to the new premises, some traders have left their stalls and some have called for more to be done to encourage customers to take visit the market’s temporary home.
Some called for the taxi service that has now been put in place.
The council says it has been put in place to “provide easy access to the market for those who may otherwise face challenges reaching its temporary location”, as it recognises “the importance of ensuring accessibility for all visitors”.
"We are thrilled to partner with Bounds Taxis to provide this service, enhancing accessibility to the market," said Councillor Dan Lister, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth.
"By simply pushing a button, visitors can effortlessly summon a PHV to transport them between the North Gate Bus Station and the market.
“This initiative reflects our dedication to supporting the market and ensuring that everyone can easily experience the vibrant atmosphere and unique offerings it provides."
The service will operate from 7am until 4pm daily. Customers will need to push at button at North Gate Bus Station to call a free taxi. To return, they will need to do the same at the market.
The work to revitalise Market Square began in February and is expected to be completed in August 2024.
After months of debate, the leadership of Bolton Council has announced it is not supporting “Minimum Licencing Standards 2” - a policy which originally would have charged drivers for having vehicles that were more than ten years old.
Bolton News reports that the plan had been fiercely contested by drivers across the borough, who warned it could “destroy livelihoods”, and town hall leaders have now announced a change in policy.
Council leader Cllr Nick Peel said: “We have decided that we are not going to continue pursuing MLS 2.”
He added: “We need to make one thing absolutely clear, the previous Conservative council had years to sort this out.
“The last decision on this matter was that there would be a maximum age limit on private hire vehicles of ten years, they all voted for that.”
“This is entirely a decision of the Labour council.”
The MLS scheme was first agreed on collectively by Greater Manchester’s ten councils in 2018 and was designed to bring in a set of common standards for the 11,500 private hire vehicles across the city region.
Under its previous administration, Bolton Council agreed to the first stage of the MLS proposals which were approved back in September 2021.
Speaking at a debate on the subject last May, Conservative deputy leader Cllr Hilary Fairclough said they had secured better terms for Bolton drivers than those in other boroughs.
She said: “It originally started in 2018 when a Labour Mayor wanted to have minimum standards with the ten then Labour authorities.”
She added: “We went out and we got what we believed was the best deal for Bolton, no one else got the same.”
But Conservatives announced earlier in July that they now favoured scrapping the scheme.
Since it was first discussed, drivers across Bolton had made their fears known about the scheme, which would have demanded that taxi/private hire vehicles be no more than five years old on first registration and have been on the road for less than ten years to avoid a charge.
They had warned this could have driven them off the road while they also raised concerns that a common livery policy may have made them a bigger target for vandals.
In June, Bolton Council’s leadership announced changes to the policy aimed at meeting these concerns.
This included removing the age policy, ensuring that there would be no Greater Manchester-wide common livery and pushing back the new emissions policy from 2028 to 2030.
But the Bolton Private Hire Association has continued to fiercely oppose the scheme, demanding instead that it be scrapped in its entirety, claiming that neither Labour nor Conservative administrations had been listening to them.
Now, following meetings between representatives of the taxi trade with Cllr Peel alongside deputy leader Cllr Akhtar Zaman and cabinet member for regulatory services and property Cllr Sue Haworth, the council leadership has withdrawn support for MLS2.
Council leaders now expect that the status quo will be maintained.
Bolton Private Hire Association Secretary Yasif Khan said: “We are very happy with the decision and we would like to thank the administration for realising it would have been really harsh on the drivers.
“From day one we were telling them it wasn’t affordable for the drivers, it would have been very difficult to get finance on new cars and it would have been very difficult with the second hand market as well.”
He added: “If its not broken, don’t fix it, as we’ve always said we already do two MoTs.
“There has never been any issue with safety and the safety of our passengers is always paramount.”
His collegue, Vice Chair Mohammed Akhtar, added that he hoped that drivers could now come together with the council and the public to find the best way forward.
Taxi drivers are being attacked somewhere in the West Midlands most weeks as they go out onto the roads to do their jobs and earn money for their families, shocking figures obtained by the Birmingham Mail have revealed.
The Mail’s investigation, following the horrific killings of two taxi drivers in the region, has highlighted just how vulnerable they are, as they never know who is going to get into their cab.
Driver Anakh Singh, 59, was killed in a sickening attack in Wolverhampton last October during which he was headbutted, punched and kicked on the floor as devastating violence was meted out following a row over a fare.
Then just a few weeks later cabbie Mohammed Istakhar, 44, was attacked and left for dead in Solihull as his car was stolen.
Both harrowing cases have been in court in recent weeks, putting the safety of taxi drivers firmly back into the spotlight and acting as a reminder of the risks they take when going out onto the roads late at night.
Data the newspaper has uncovered only further illustrates that fact, with helpless drivers, often out on quiet roads in isolated areas in the small hours, commonly being beaten and battered.
West Midlands Police was asked for details of incidents which had involved taxi drivers since the start of 2021.
There were 577 reports of assault without injury and another 247 reports of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, where injury is caused.
There were another 84 of malicious wounding/inflicting grievous bodily harm, where the victim suffered a serious injury.
Some 243 incidents saw drivers receive harassment, alarm or distress, while there were 232 cases of 'fear of provocation of violence'.
There were 108 reports of robbery involving taxi drivers and 104 of racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.
It's possible some incidents may have been placed in more than one offence category but it nevertheless gives an indication of how many cases cops have to deal with.
It also shows how common violence involving taxi drivers is, with these hardworking family-men seen as easy targets as they transport sometimes drunken passengers across the region. There will likely be other incidents which are never reported.
Last week, Thomasz Margol was locked up for ten years for the manslaughter of Mr Singh while Oliver Pugh, 19, was found guilty of murdering Mr Istakhar in the separate attacks just a few weeks apart.
Imran Shafiq, chair of the Dudley Taxi Association, told last year how attacks on cabbies were becoming an increasing concern.
He said: "A trend we're seeing now is a lot of people not paying for taxis. They just get out and walk off and when a driver confronts them, they either get abused or physically abused.
"We're helpless. There is really nothing we can do. The police; sometimes they help, sometimes they don't."
Source: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/dangerous-truth-being-taxi-driver-27322971
At least 14 cars have been damaged since June, with drivers suffering financial loss and emotional distress.
The attack happened at around 12.45pm on Etruria Vale Road, Stoke, when the victim, driving a Toyota Avensis, was punched in the face by one of the men.
Cumberland Council has taken decisive action to protect public safety by revoking the licence of a taxi driver charged last week with a serious racially aggravated offence.
A historic bridge has been closed indefinitely after an Uber car became wedged on Saturday morning.
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).