LIVERPOOL

Noah Walker, from Bootle. His mum Claire Brown was angry with the way he was allegedly treated by a Delta taxi driver

Delta Taxis has apologised to the mum of a boy with Asperger’s syndrome for the way one of its drivers allegedly treated him.

Claire Brown, from Bootle, filed an official complaint with the Sefton-based cab firm after travelling in one of its vehicles last Friday.

The mum-of-four took a taxi home from Liverpool city centre with her sons, 10-year-old Noah, who has Asperger’s syndrome, and Seth, nine, after a shopping trip for school shoes.

She said they were near to the Birkenhead tunnel entrance when a girl with headphones on walked into the road in front of the taxi, causing the driver to slam on the breaks and sound the horn.

Claire said: “Anything that happens unexpectedly or involves loud noises, Noah doesn’t like.

“He screamed and grabbed hold of me, Noah was terrified. He was crying.”

Claire says the taxi driver yelled at Noah to “Stop it!”.

She explained about his condition, which is a form of autism, but says the driver replied: “My niece is like that and she can obey commands,” before shouting at her.

Claire told the ECHO: “If I didn’t think it would have upset Noah more I would have taken us out of the taxi there and then.”

Once she arrived home the angry mum phoned Delta Taxis to report the driver and was told to email her complaint.

On receiving no response by Monday she emailed again and was sent a reply on Tuesday which Claire said did not address her complaint fully.

A further email was sent by Delta to Claire yesterday which says the taxi firm will be “strongly suggesting” the driver concerned attends one of its optional Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults and Children courses, which includes a module titled Autism Awareness.

They have also promised Noah a Toys R Us voucher as a gesture of goodwill.

A spokeswoman for Delta Taxis told the ECHO: “The complaint has been addressed with the driver concerned. During the journey, a pedestrian stepped out in front of the driver and he had to brake hard to avoid an accident.

"Regarding his outburst and reaction following this, the driver acknowledged that he should have handled this a lot better and is willing to attend one of our courses which specialises in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children.

“I have spoken with the complainant and have discussed this with her today, describing the benefits of the course and have also offered a gift voucher for her son. I can confirm that the matter is now resolved.”

Claire also reported the incident to Sefton council, which says it is investigating the matter.

Delta Taxis took to Twitter this morning to address concerns from the public over the driver’s alleged behaviour.

The cab firm tweeted: “To date 727 Delta drivers have completed specialist training in safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.”