TINTED WINDOWS NOT ALLOWED HERE!

Cabbie wins tinted windows battle
A cabbie has won a legal fight to have tinted glass in his taxi.

Darlington Borough Council ordered John Stoddart's people carrier cab off the road because some of its windows had tinted glass.

The County Durham authority said it took the decision on the grounds of public safety.

But Mr Stoddart took the council to an appeal hearing and has now won the right to use the vehicle to carry passengers.

'Lost money'

The authority refused him a licence, saying the vehicle's tinted rear windshield could hamper vision.

Mr Stoddart took the case to court and a county court judge agreed that the vehicle was safe to use a cab.

Mr Stoddart said: "The taxi came with the tinted glass fitted as standard.

"At the end of the day I could not believe that I had to go to court to get all this sorted out.

"All this has taken three months and I have been losing money as a result."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said: "The council does not permit the use of vehicles with darkened and tinted glass on public safety grounds.

"In this case the judge thought that although the windows were tinted it was still possible to see inside the vehicle so in this case there was no need for that particular requirement."

Some of the guys at test stations let their power over cabbies go to their heads. They need to be reminded that they are not the law but have to work within it themselves.