Taxi drivers across North Northamptonshire have spoken out against the council's plans to 'de-zone', with cabbies overwhelmingly disagreeing with proposals.
NorthantsLive reports that plans to bring the four legacy boroughs of Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough and East Northants under one unitary set of rules have been branded as "blind ambition" by a frustrated member of the trade.
Harmonising the zones would mean that drivers would only need to apply for one licence to cover the whole of North Northants and with it would come a new all-encompassing knowledge test and freedom to pick up customers in all zones.
North Northants Council (NNC) held a consultation on the proposal to remove the four separate licences at the end of last year with cabbies across the county taking part.
Of the 168 responses received that clarified their opinion on the plans, 110 drivers disagreed or strongly disagreed and just 52 agreed or strongly agreed - the rest were uncertain.
At a Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee held by NNC on Tuesday, April 30, disgruntled cabbies attended to voice their opinions on the potential legislation.
One taxi driver said: “I’ve spoken at many meetings about the issues that the council created with a blind ambition to harmonise all services at all costs.
“Myself and others have tried to explain the complex nature of our industry and how these changes will not only impact taxi operators but could also impact others due to the lack of drivers available.
“You’re discussing the merger of zones, but one of the key points in it is the merger of the new knowledge test to include the whole of North Northamptonshire.
“If you don’t start listening to us, you’re going to see the demise of the hackney trade across North Northamptonshire.”
Instead of sitting a test on their ‘home’ area, all drivers will have to take an exam assessing their knowledge of the entire county - an area covering 382 square miles.
NNC said the new test - which has not yet been finalised - will consist of a mix of knowledge of key places across the county, such as train stations and town centres, and also being able to use a satnav to get to other locations.
Another cabbie said at the meeting: “I would suggest to all of you if you’re going to any other town, city or anywhere else in the country, and you get into a black cab and you tell them where you want to go you don’t expect them to put it into a satnav.
“The knowledge test at the moment says the following - English knowledge proficiency, general knowledge of local locations, driver and vehicle conditions, highway code, basic arithmetic.
“This is fundamentally what you would expect from a black cab - a detailed knowledge of the local area by zone, route planning and byelaws. We need to know where we’re going.
“For the geographical area to know all of that is impossible. It is in the interest of all parties that we work in our own local areas and the zones be retained.”
NNC maintains that the de-zoning will allow businesses who want to trade across the whole of North Northamptonshire to be able to, without applying for four separate licences.
It added that it is a ‘personal decision’ for drivers and that if somebody wants to stay in their original zone they have every right to.
However, the same county-wide knowledge test must be taken regardless of the drivers’ intentions for where they work.
Iain Smith, assistant director of regulatory services, said: “We do need to make sure that we set the test at the right level which effectively reflects what’s required in a modern test, the increased size of North Northants as an area and the key locations that people would need to know.
“It’s not in anyone’s interest for us to set the bar in relation to this geographical knowledge test so high that people can’t meet that.”
The scrutiny committee recommended that the report be taken to the executive for their next meeting at the beginning of June to make a decision on the de-zoning.
A recommendation was also put forward for officers to conduct a consultation on the relevant tests and ensure that it is ready simultaneously with the introduction of any single zone scheme that comes in.
Taxi driver fees in part of Derbyshire are set to be increased for the first time in nine years.
DerbyshireLive reports that Erewash Borough Council is looking to hike a wide range of fees applying to taxi and private hire drivers for the first time since 2019.
This plan has been met with three objection letters from Erewash cabbies claiming the increases are unfair in the face of inflation and fuel price hikes. However, council officers write in a report that inflation has dropped and so have fuel prices, while fees for drivers have not been increased in some time but fares have been hiked.
A report to be discussed next week details that the fee for a five-year private hire operator licence is due to be increased from £416 to £441; a three-year driver’s licence would increase from £203 to £245; a one-year driver’s licence would increase from £80 to £85; and the Knowledge test would increase from £25 to £38 – along with many other fees.
Objectors wrote: “I am objecting to an increase in licensing fees as proposed by the council. My reasons are because of inflation. Interest rates have increased, as well as fuel prices too have increased.”
“Taxi drivers are still sat here waiting to hear on the newer rules on vehicles, tinted windows, age of vehicles etc. I just think it’s a bit of an insult that you’re putting the fees up but we don’t know what we’re going to get back in return.”
“I’m objecting to an increase in taxi fees. My reason is because of the increase in fuel and inflation. The increase would have an impact on our livelihood.”
Council officers said in a report to be discussed next week that the planned increases are based on the authority’s “reasonable administration costs”, along with inflation.
They write that “it is acknowledged that operating costs for taxi drivers and operators will have increased” and that taxi fares were hiked in 2022 to “recognise the impact of inflationary pressures on the taxi trade”.
Officers say that inflation has since peaked at 11.1 per cent in October 2022 and currently stands at 3.2 per cent. They write that “fuel prices (pump price per litre) have also reduced over the last three years or, in the case of petrol, shown only recent marginal increases”.
A table showing fuel prices per litre shows petrol standing at 161.91 pence per litre in 2022 and 146.91 in 2024, while diesel stood at 176 pence per litre in 2022 and 156 pence in 2024.
Source: https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/taxi-driver-fees-erewash-set-9262935
A taxi driver whose dangerous driving caused a pedestrian's death just sixteen minutes after he had been warned about his speed by the police was jailed for six years and ten months on Thursday 2 May.
Punchline reports that dad of four Shakoor Ahmed, 46, was also banned from driving for five years five months by a judge who told him he had behaved with 'gross arrogance' on the roads on the night he crashed into 32 year old landscape gardener Dan Beames in Cheltenham.
Ahmed, carrying two passengers in his electric Toyota Prius cab, was doing 53mph on a 40mph road when he hit Mr Beames, who was crossing the road after attending a Christmas party.
Sixteen minutes earlier, Ahmed had been carrying a passenger in Denmark Road, Gloucester, when he was pulled in by two police officers who gave him a formal warning for speeding.
The officers had charitably decided not to charge him with the offence because of the impact a conviction might have on his sixteen year taxi driving career.
But Gloucester Crown Court heard that Ahmed did not heed the warning - in fact, he boasted about it to his next two passengers when he picked them up at Gloucester Bus station and drove them to Cheltenham.
He also told them that he had driven at 100mph along the A40 Golden Valley by-pass between Gloucester and Cheltenham in the past - and he then proceeded to do so again on their journey.
Driving along Lansdown Road in Cheltenham, Ahmed pulled out at traffic lights to overtake a slow moving car ahead of him and then cut back in front of the vehicle to get back into the correct lane.
But as he did so, at a speed of 53mph with his foot flat down on the accelerator, Mr Beames started to cross the road from a Texaco garage on the right hand side and Ahmed could not avoid hitting him.
Mr Beames was rushed to hospital in Bristol but did not survive his catastrophic brain injuries.
His mother, Yvette White and his partner Jessica Beames, both read emotional statements to the judge describing the devastation his loss had caused to them and the rest of his family.
His barrister, Catherine Spedding, said "He is genuinely remorseful about what happened and the premature death of Mr Beames that he caused and which has had such an effect on Mr Beames' family."
She asked the court to take into account that Mr Beames had a blood/alcohol reading of 193mgs at the time of his death - almost two and a half times the limit for a driver.
He had also tested positive for cannabis and was using his mobile phone as he crossed the road, she said.
"My client has not driven since the collision. He has given up his profession as a taxi driver, which was a long standing one."
Jailing Ahmed, Judge Rupert Lowe said he had read character references which showed that he was a caring, honest and hard-working man who looked after his extended family and had, despite some criminal convictions more than 23 years ago, led a law-abiding adulthood.
The only exception, he said, had been a speeding conviction nine months before the tragedy, in March 2021, when he did 45mph in a 30mph limit and was fined and issued with three penalty points.
The judge pointed out that immediately prior to the fatal collision, if Ahmed had been driving at the 40mph limit there was only a 30% chance of Mr Beames being killed. But at his speed of 53mph the chance of fatality was 80%.
"This was the most awful waste of a young life," he said.
The judge said the aggravating factors were Ahmed's speed with two passengers on board, his ignoring of the earlier police warning and the fact that the victim was a pedestrian. He had shown 'gross arrogance' in those respects.
But in Ahmed's favour were that Mr Beames had contributed significantly to the collision by his own inattention, Ahmed's largely good character, the effect of his imprisonment on his children, the strong prospect of him being rehabilitated, the low risk of him re-offending and his co-operation with the police investigation.
The judge said he also took into account Ahmed's genuine remorse. Overall, he said, the mitigating factors in Ahmed's favour marginally outweighed the aggravating features.
The judge reduced the starting point sentence of eight years to seven years and eight months to reflect the mitigation and then allowed a 10% reduction in recognition of Ahmed's guilty plea.
He said the sentence would therefore be a jail term of six years and 10 months, of which he would serve half before being paroled.
Ahmed would have to take an extended driving test before being allowed on the road again after his five years and five month disqualification, the judge added.
Source: https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/articles/aanews/taxi-driver-jailed-for-cheltenham-death-crash
A man took a taxi between two North Yorkshire towns - and then fled without paying the fare, police said.
North Yorkshire Police said a man ordered the taxi from Pickering to Scarborough, but when the taxi arrived at the seaside town, he ran away without paying.
The York Press reports that the journey happened between 4.30am-5am on February 29.
Police have now released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the incident.
Please contact police if you recognise the man pictured on CCTV, as he may have information that will assist the investigation.
Email joanne.bell@northyorkshire.police.uk if you can help.
Alternatively, you can call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option two and ask for PC1488 Bell or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website.
Please quote reference 12240037288 when passing on information.
Source: https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/24295538.police-look-speak-man-fare-goes-unpaid/
A sign has appeared on Railway Approach this week reading: “No parking. A £100 penalty notice (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days) may be issued to any vehicles parked in this area.”
According to Sussex World, a second sign warns that parking on the pavement is also prohibited.
According to the sign, the APCOA Parking company is responsible for the new rule, in partnership with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).
GTR said the signs are in place to prevent vehicles parking on double yellow lines and making the area unsafe for pedestrians crossing the road.
Arrow Taxi Group driver Vinnie Saunders said: “It is just silly. They have taken away the drop off bay. Now they have put signs up saying it's a £100 fine for anyone stopping there.
"Where are we supposed to drop off, being a taxi driver? I haven't been fined yet but me and 250 Arrow taxi drivers are all worried about how we're going to drop people off.
“You can't stop right outside the station because there are bus stops. They have taken the only drop off bay that there was. Drivers are going to have to say they can't take any jobs to and from the station.”
Mr Saunders, who has been a taxi driver for 15 years, said it means people leaving the station with suitcases will have to walk over the road to the Arrows office to call a taxi.
"There was no consultation with any of us,” he added.
"One of our drivers stopped in the car park out the back and he got fined. He didn't pay to park – all he did was drop off a customer.”
GTR said there is a taxi rank near the front entrance of the train station that taxi drivers can use. Alternatively, there is a ‘20-minute grace period’ in place in the station car park.
A spokesperson added: “Warning signs were put outside Worthing train station in March 2024 to stop vehicles parking on the pavement and on double yellow lines, both of which present real danger to cyclists and pedestrians.
"Taxi drivers should be using the taxi rank, which is located near the front of Worthing station. If anyone has been issued with a Penalty Notice they feel is unjustified, they should follow the appeals process.”
Chorley businesses are working together on a new project to support the borough’s homeless - which will see taxi drivers deliver takeaways to the needy.
North Yorkshire Police roads policing officers worked alongside North Yorkshire Council's taxi licensing enforcement staff.
Two women racially abused a taxi driver during a late-night journey across Carlisle after he told them they should not eat and drink in his cab.
Warwickshire Police stopped and checked 40 taxi drivers during a joint operation with City of Wolverhampton Council’s taxi compliance officers.
Edinburgh black cab drivers have criticised the council after being asked to pay to have planters on The Royal Mile moved for their annual outing for vulnerable children.
A total of 19 taxis have been stopped in and around Cambridge in a crackdown on vehicle safety and parking on double yellow lines.
London cabbie Farid Cheheb, 60, fatally injured Irish barman Shane Scannell, 44, who died in hospital four days later surrounded by his devastated family.
Sam Bradley’s actions left the victim with a broken leg and broken ankle, said Sarah Tyrer, prosecuting.
New data has confirmed the city as the country's private hire vehicle capital - with a licensing rate a staggering 500 per cent higher than the second-placed location.
The repetitive action of pressing the car accelerator pedal activates certain neural pathways that promote relaxation and reduce stress levels.