WORCESTER

Taxi drivers are being threatened with council surveillance tactics unless they stop clogging up Worcester’s roads.

The deputy leader of Worcester City Council has criticised cabbies for breaking the rules by ‘over-ranking’, saying the public are sick of the congestion they cause.

Cllr Chris Mitchell wants to erect CCTV cameras at Foregate Street and The Cross to catch rule-breakers, with the city’s licensing chiefs able to dish out punishments.

Over-ranking, where taxis wait behind each other at the ranks until they are past bursting point, is a long bone of contention in the city.

But the idea to tackle it has led to a row over ‘spying’, with the council’s own advisors saying can’t be seen to snoop on innocent passers-by caught in the surveillance.


But that stance has been described as “stark raving mad” by the Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Roger Knight, who is backing the calls for a crackdown.

Cllr Mitchell said: “Whenever I walk down there I consistently see these taxis over-ranking, I keep on having to knock on windows and say ‘oi, move on’.

“What is the harm in putting cameras at the back of the ranks and taking pictures of those who abuse the system?

 “Unless we have zero tolerance it will never go away, we constantly have taxis parked by the Whitehouse Hotel - the taxis will never police themselves. It’s a real bug-bear of people in this city.”

But his comments during a meeting of the licensing and environmental health committee were dismissed by officers.

Senior licensing officer Niall McMenamin said: “Enforcement action is taking place, I’m dealing with three cases right now which have been escalated to me due to the poor conduct of drivers.

“But I don’t think CCTV is the way forward, it’s classed as direct surveillance and there’s all sorts of legal issues around what it can be used for.”

Cllr Mitchell however criticised that view, saying private organisations like RingGo use cameras to monitor car parks.

Legal advisor Clare Flanagan, a solicitor, warned councillors about “a potential breach of privacy” if it went ahead.

“Private landlords can do what they want but Worcester City Council is a public authority and this is public land,” she said.

She told them the public would not expect the council to be watching them but Cllr Knight, the city’s mayor who also sits on the committee, called it “stark raving mad.”

“This ‘breach of privacy’ argument actually protects people who are breaking the law,” he said, calling it “nuts”.

Cllr Jo Hodges then said: “What about us taking pictures on a mobile phone of taxi drivers?”

Mrs Flanagan told councillors they would have to “be careful” again about catching innocent bystanders in any images.

Back in 2013 an independent report said vehicles are often “illegally parked” because the ranks are full - and in 2014 the council agreed a first ever ‘cap’ on taxi numbers of 230, although it has yet to come down and is currently stuck at 265.

WORCESTER Taxi Drivers Association has responded to the criticism by saying it needs more ranks.

Lesley Borthwick, from the association, said: "The Cross rank has been better since it was extended but Foregate Street has always been a problem.

"The problem there is, people are always dropping off at the cinema and parking there.

"We are in the process of trying to get more rank space but it has to go to Worcestershire County Council and it's so long winded.

"We haven't even had the Cathedral rank replaced yet - we do need more ranks and that's the problem.

"It's like a catch 22 situation though, the question is where do you put them?"

When taxi drivers get licences they are handed a series of rules and are slapped with penalty points for breaking any, ranging for two points for simple obstruction to eight points for more serious breaches.

Any driver to hit 15 penalty points within two years is liable to be struck off if the council deems it serious enough.

In a typical year more than 100 Worcester hackney carriage drivers amass penalty points for flouting the council's rules.

http://goo.gl/Ifv7dj
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 NEW YORK

 A suspect is under arrest in a deadly hit and run in Manhattan.

Police say 68-year-old John Bangura is the driver of the yellow cab that hit 44-year-old Kenya Flores of the Bronx in a bus lane on First Avenue near Stuyvesant Town shortly after 3:30 Saturday morning.


Investigators believe Flores was lying in the street when she was hit. A cane found nearby may have belonged to her.

She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

Police say Bangura was later arrested on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission says Bangura's TLC license has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

http://abc7ny.com/news/suspect-arrested-in-manhattan-taxi-hit-and-run-that-killed-woman/1253971/