A Doncaster taxi driver has lost his licence after he paid another man to take his penalty points for driving his cab through a red light, just 10 weeks after entering the profession.

Ahmed Hussain of Elmfield Road, Hyde Park was convicted of perverting the course of justice after driving his taxi through a red light within just 10 weeks of obtaining his taxi licence.

Hussain was convicted after he was found to have paid another man £250 to take his penalty points.

As a result of his conviction, Doncaster Council took the decision to revoke his hackney carriage and private hire driver licence last year.

Hussain, aged 41, appealed the council's decision at a licensing appeal at Sheffield Crown Court last month, which was not upheld.

Judge HHJ Moore, branded the conviction “very serious” and remarked that Mr Hussain had been fortunate not to have been sent straight to prison instead of receiving the suspended sentence that was handed down. HHJ Moore awarded Doncaster Council £300 in costs.

http://goo.gl/j9hjcG
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 Walsall taxi drivers deny child sex offences

Two taxi drivers from Walsall have denied child sex offences and will stand trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Zahoor Ahmed, aged 45, of Alexandra Road, Palfrey, is charged with engaging in sexual activity with a child in 2015.

His trial is scheduled to start on October 24.

Nawaz Ahmed, 35, from Hucker Road, Pleck, faces three allegations of sexual activity with a child in 2014 and taking an indecent image of a child in the same year.

http://goo.gl/XLnn5n
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 EXETER

 Competition between rival taxi firms in Exeter has led to Trading Standards being embroiled in a dispute over a spoof website.

It is the latest twist in what has been described as a "tit for tat" row involving Exe Cars and Apple Central Taxis.

This week Exe Cars complained to Devon County Council's Trading Standards department and the city council's licensing team about a website purporting to advertise a non-existent firm called Exe Cabs.

The homepage – which has now been taken down – featured a logo similar to that of Exe Cars alongside the phone number for Apple Central Taxis.

Exe Cars marketing manager Vincent Miller said: "There's healthy competition, which everybody needs to keep you on your toes, but we feel they have overstepped the mark here. Our complaint is that customers could be misled.

"Exeter City Council confirmed its licensing team was looking into the matter.A spokesman for Devon County Council said: "We have received a complaint and Trading Standards are currently investigating.

"When contacted by the Echo, Steve Screech, general manager of Apple Central Taxis, said:

"The site doesn't exist any more. It's something that was mocked up in jest and it shouldn't have gone live.

"We have reported them to the council about some things they have posted on Facebook. It's a bit childish and tit for tat, and someone came up with the idea of a different website. It's now been deleted."

Apple Central Taxis was formed in 2014 by the merger of Capital and Gemini Taxis following their acquisition by Weston-super-Mare based Apple Taxis.

http://goo.gl/hsMw7P
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 CARDIFF

 Transport bosses will lay on an all-night bus service in Cardiff if the planned taxi strike goes ahead this month.

The service will run every 30 minutes through the night on the X1 route, which connects Culverhouse Cross to Pontprennau via the city centre.

There will be no premium fares for the night buses – understood to be the first of their kind in Wales – and each vehicle will carry a travelling security guard.

Cardiff’s Hackney Driver Association is planning a strike on four weekend nights this month , in protest at a council clampdown on taxicabs.

The strike is scheduled for the nights of April 15, 16, 22 and 23. The night buses have already been organised by managers at New Adventure Travel, which is based in Cardiff’s docklands.

http://goo.gl/9lfnJd
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 OTTAWA

Several taxi drivers in Ottawa say they plan to blockade city bus depots this week, in order to put pressure on city council as it debates a new transportation bylaw.

Police say they are aware of planned disruptions and are preparing to respond.

Local company BlueLine Taxi said on Twitter that there is “no planned protest or blockade planned by Union or BlueLine Taxi drivers,” calling it a “rumour.”

Mayor Jim Watson responded to BlueLine, saying he was “happy to hear that” and that “it would really erode public goodwill towards your industry."

Amrik Singh, president of the local taxi union, Unifor Local 1688, said taxi drivers are angry that people using the phone application Uber X have been carrying passengers in the city without being subjected to the same rules.

Singh said taxi drivers want Uber X users to be forced to install cameras in their cars, take the same taxi course that taxi drivers are currently undergo, and face the same type of criminal background checks.

“If the city is asking me to go to the local police station and bring a letter that I have no criminal charges,” Singh said, “I want this company’s drivers to do the same.”

Uber does its own background checks.

A petition posted on the union's Facebook page outlines additional complaints, including the fact that taxi drivers face high licensing and insurance costs, are forced to charge prices set by the city, and face twice-annual vehicle inspections. 

The bylaw changes that will be debated starting Thursday include a plan to lower some licensing fees, eliminate taxi course requirements and ban app-users from taxi stands. A vote is expected Friday.

Bylaw officers and Ottawa Police have laid dozens of charges against Uber drivers in the past year.

http://goo.gl/kjwd3X
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 NEWCASTLE

Readers have shared their city centre traffic woes after a video showed a 300m Taxi drive taking 15 minutes.

The footage, posted to YouTube by Pukkadriver, showed a journey from the short stay car park to Westmorland Road.

Work around Newcastle Central Station, including a bus lane, widened pavements, a new layout on the road outside the station and the £24.5m project to improve the Central Gateway, has left drivers battling blocked roads.

And the story prompted many of you to weigh in with your own experiences of traffic misery in Newcastle.

Writing on our Facebook page, Andrew Harrison said: “Operation get cars out of the city centre is in full swing now. Takes an hour and a half for me to get from work in Benwell to home in Wallsend.”

Emma Watkin commented: “Absolutely disgusting it’s taken me over an hour to drive to town today it used to just take 20 minutes.”

http://goo.gl/NIJOMu
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 BLACKPOOL

 A Blackpool taxi business is celebrating 40 years with a get-together of its former drivers and shareholders.

Blacktax was founded in a small office above a cafe in Bispham but is now based in the former Barclays Bank building on Red Bank Road.

Director Ian Wharmby said: “We are delighted to welcome eveyone back to celebrate what has been a great little success story.

“We have had some great characters working here over the years.

“One of our drivers Kevin Higginbottom has been with us since the start. He is now 66 years old and still drives five nights a week.

“We have been here in North Shore for 40 years and grown from an office above what is now Antonio’s into a business providing employment for in excess of 100 local people.

“I joined 30 years ago and was involved in the move to the present building. It was a big step buying the former bank. But Blacktax has gone from strength to strength ever since.”

He said the reunion has helped raise £400 for their chosen charity Trinity Hospice.

http://goo.gl/yPKnJo
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 NORTHER IRELAND

 Local taxi drivers fear that they will driven out of business when a new Taxis Act for Northern Ireland comes into effect from the end of next month.

At a meeting organised by Independent MLA Claire Sugden on Monday, taxi drivers from across the borough vented their frustrations about the changes, which will see the implementation of a new maximum fare structure.

Under the new Act, drivers will have to have a meter and a printer in their vehicles and new roof signage.

Representatives from DVA’s taxi unit were in attendance at the meeting, which took place at the Lodge Hotel.

A number of well known operators told the meeting that they fear that they will be ‘put out of business’, because of the additional costs they are having to pay to meet the new guidelines.

Many claimed that the new rules would encourage more illegal taxis onto the road.

http://goo.gl/505Uul