On Friday, a 'Reclaim The Night' march was held in Cardiff

Taxi drivers in Cardiff are under fire over claims they are refusing to take passengers on journeys that are deemed too short.

It comes just days after cab drivers in the city assured students they would not be turned away for short-distance taxi trips, after three sex attacks in the capital in just five days.

Mathab Khan, the chair of the Cardiff Hackney Cabs Association, said: “Our advice to our drivers is to be as helpful as you possibly can, especially when it comes to lone female students. We say ‘Please take them, they are vulnerable’.

Protestors take part in a 'Reclaim The Night' march through Cardiff city centre following recent sex attacks against women in Cardiff
Mr Khan told the BBC the only time a cab driver would refuse a fare was if the passenger was unfit to travel, due to excessive drink.

“99.9% of the taxi drivers in Cardiff are very helpful,” he said.

But this has been rejected by many women, some who tried to get a taxi home on Friday night.

Leah Davies, who was trying to get home after a night out in the city centre, says she was turned down by five different drivers.

She wrote on Facebook: “Absolutely shaking with rage at Cardiff taxi drivers. Refusing to take myself, a young girl, on her own, because she lives “too close”. Too close being a 20 minute walk, along the riverside, in a slightly dodgy area.

“Especially with the sex attacks that’s happened over the past few days, you’d think they’d have some compassion.”

Amy Jones said: “I work as a manager in the city centre at an entertainment venue where I frequently work late nights. I don’t trust the taxi drivers in town, so I often drive and pay for a couple of hours parking and then drive home in the early hours.

“Last Saturday night (September 19) I was working. With the match on, I knew there was no way I would be able to park. So I paid for a bus fare into town, with enough cash on me to pay for a taxi home in Roath.

“At the end of the night - at approximately 2am - I started asking the taxis to take me home.

Protestors take part in a 'Reclaim The Night' march through Cardiff city centre following recent sex attacks against women in Cardiff
“I know they often refuse short distance fares so I just said “home” - not specifying a location.

"I asked over a dozen taxis to take me home - outside Prince of Wales, further up along St Mary Street and at the top of St Mary Street by the castle. Every single one of them told me they weren’t in a rank and they didn’t have to take me.

“I ended up in tears - and still no one would take me. In light of the sexual assaults, I was terrified, but could see no other solution than to attempt to walk home.

“Fortunately I made it home safely well past 3am - almost 4am.”

“With more match days looming and bus strikes coming up, I’m getting increasing nervous about how I’m going to get to work.”

Plaid Cymru AM Bethan Jenkins said: “Cardiff city’s taxi association has rejected claims that they have refused short distance fares.

“I have experienced this myself, whereby a taxi driver has deemed it too short a journey to take me somewhere”.

“At a time when there has been a series of attacks on women in the city, taxi drivers have a social duty to take those shorter fares”.

“I would urge Cardiff council to hold talks immediately with the taxi association in the city to rectify this matter with urgency.”

The criticism comes as police continue to question a 23-year-old man on suspicion of sexual assault in connection with one of the alleged incidents.

On Saturday, Remus Hamza, 40, appeared in court charged with rape following an alleged incident in the capital’s civic centre area.

He will appear again at Cardiff Crown Court on October 12.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/taxi-drivers-criticised-refusing-take-10144601?
----------------------------------------
 LONDON

 Firefighters were called to free a minicab driver from his car after a dramatic early morning crash in west London.

The driver of the Toyota Prius was temporarily trapped after colliding with a black Mercedes on West Cromwell Road in Kensington.

The victim, reported to be aged in his 50s, was taken to Charing Cross Hospital with back injuries just before 4am today, the London Ambulance Service (LAS) said.

Black cab driver Paul Janes, who witnessed the aftermath of the crash, said the driver was lucky to survive.

He said: "When I saw the state of the vehicle, I thought someone could have died. It was shocking. The car was completely mangled."

He said the road, often used as a route towards Heathrow Airport, was becoming increasingly "dangerous" and was being treated by taxi drivers as a "free-for-all". 

A spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade confirmed fire crews freed the taxi driver from the car.

A spokeswoman for the LAS said: "We were called at 3.57am this morning to reports of a road traffic collision at West Cromwell Road.

"We sent three ambulance vehicles and crew were on scene within six minutes.

"We took a male, reported to be in his fifties, with a back injury to Charing Cross Hospital."

http://goo.gl/ByChWx