LEICESTER TAXIS ALL RUN AWAY

Leicester Mercury

November 23, 2007 Friday

Passengers stranded as drivers flee tests

Fuming taxi customers were left without transport after drivers fled vehicle safety checks.

Licensing officers pulled over 60 vehicles for tests in an eight-hour Friday-night blitz on private-hire firms.

Ten taxis were ordered off the road after the inspectors found 'serious defects' in the vehicles.

But passengers said the blitz had left them standing on the kerbside unable to get a cab after drivers ditched a night's work rather than risk having their vehicle taken out of service.

Council bosses say the spot checks 'save lives', but taxi unions say the checks are unnecessary and want Leicester City Council to introduce quarterly MOT tests instead.

Licensing officers, backed up by police, decided to target mainly private hire cabs in the inspections on November 16.

The officers visited taxi offices across the city and flagged down vehicles in the street to carry out the tests.

Nine private hire cars and one hackney cab were ordered off the road due to serious defects, while another five cars were found to have minor problems and were given notice to make the repairs.

Mike Ward, chair of the Leicestershire Public and Private Hire Association, said: "The inspectors have been coming round a lot in the last three weeks, and it's too much.

"A lot of lads feel you get failed for the slightest thing, which takes you off the road.

"With all the stopping and starting, something small will go in the car.

"They'd rather give up £100 for the night and go home than risk having to pay £28,000 for a new cab.

"We'd prefer a strict regime of MOT tests every four months, and outside of that to be left to get on with the job."

One man, who did not wish to be named, said: "I called every taxi firm on Friday night and couldn't get a cab at all.

"They told me all the cars were in because of the council tests.

"I couldn't believe it. It's incredibly annoying for them to do it on a Friday when everyone needs a cab."

A council spokeswoman said the tests generally happened on Fridays when drivers had the most incentive to keep their car on the road.

She said: "Spot checks are part of our licensing policy for taxis in the city. The aim of these checks is to ensure that taxis licensed in Leicester are safe.

Coun Robert Wann, the council's environment spokesman, said:

"We have public safety at the heart of the policy. We are not going to apologise for doing these checks, and we shall continue with them."

Those lads at Leicester have done this before last year I think when they all did a runner.