HYNDBURN

AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into allegations a taxi company refused to pick up a grieving pensioner because "he smelled".

Hyndburn Council is probing claims Betty’s Coaches and Cars refused to collect 76-year-old Keith Cronshaw and his daughter from a Rishton pub.

The pair said on requesting a taxi home from The Walmsley Arms, they were told that the company would not send a driver because of the pensioner smelled badly.

Mr Cronshaw, of James Avenue, Great Harwood has submitted a formal complaint to Hyndburn Council, which controls taxi licences in the borough.

However taxi bosses, who have run the Great Harwood-based firm for more than 35 years, said the refusal to send a car was simply down to a lack of staff on the night.

Mr Cronshaw’s daughter, Carol Pope, said: “We asked the landlady to ring for a taxi to bring us home and she asked them to repeat what they said to me.

“The switchboard operative said none of the drivers would pick him up because he smells.

“The person on the phone said he could not get anyone.

“Until this happened, my dad had used the firm for 10 months and nothing was said.”

Mr Cronshaw said he had used the service "every day" before the alleged incident on April 13 to visit his late wife, Eunice, in hospital.

Miss Pope said following an operation for gangrene around September last year, her dad now uses a wheelchair and has developed a pressure sore and foot ulcer.

She said: “They had to amputate above the knee.

“The pressure sore was from being sat in his chair while visiting my mum and the cream he uses does have a slight smell to it.

“This has had a massive impact on him, he didn’t go out for two weeks.

“We were in the pub at the time shortly after my mum passed away and he started crying.”

Mr Cronshaw said: “I thought it was disgraceful.”

The managing director of Betty’s Coaches and Cars, Gordon Kahn, said the refusal to send a car was not a personal decision but down to a lack of staff.

He said: “I was running the depot myself that evening and the service was refused due to a shortage of staff at that time of day.

“It is a concern to me that this has been said."

“We do not refuse any customer at any point.”

Cllr Miles Parkinson, Hyndburn Council leader, said: “I can confirm that a complaint had been received and officers are investigating.”

http://goo.gl/hRgSNa
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STOCKTON

 An unlicensed taxi driver in Stockton has paid the price for operating illegally.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard that Zulfikar Ali was seen driving a private hire vehicle in Stockton borough on June 10 last year.

When later questioned by Stockton Council licensing officers it was clear Mr Ali did not have a private hire driver’s licence and was not authorised to drive private hire vehicles.

He was also found not to have the appropriate insurance.

In court yesterday Ali, 35, of Yarm Road, Stockton, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Local Government Act 1976 and not guilty to one offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988.

He was convicted of both offences and was ordered to pay £2,141.50 in fines and costs for driving a private hire vehicle without a licence and for driving without insurance.

Ali also received six penalty points on his driving licence for the insurance offence.

In mitigation, the court heard Ali believed he was covered under his own insurance policy.

Councillor Steve Nelson, Stockton Council’s Cabinet member for access, communities and community safety, said: “We have a reputable taxi trade across Stockton Borough however this case is a clear reminder that it is illegal for any person to drive a private hire vehicle without first being licensed by the local authority.

“In the majority of cases a vehicle will also not be insured during any journey undertaken by an unlicensed driver and for this reason our officers work pro-actively to stamp out this practice and keep our residents safe.

“Drivers who may be tempted to drive private hire vehicles without first being licensed should be warned that they will face tough penalties.”


http://goo.gl/q6I5b9
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AUSTIN, Texas

 The head of the Austin, Texas Transportation Department believes the city's taxi industry should be deregulated, putting traditional cabs on an equal regulatory footing with upstart ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, reports The Statesman.

Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar, in a memo sent to the Austin City Council, says the city should eliminate taxi franchise agreements and have cab companies obtain an "operating authority" like Uber and Lyft do. The deregulation proposal would allow for a "truly competitive marketplace" instead of a "system of managed competition," writes Spillar. It would probably also involve the elimination of the medallion-type setup that Austin uses to limit how many taxis can operate in the city.

The memo comes after a proposal to remove Austin's regulations — including one that requires Uber and Lyft drivers to be fingerprinted for background checks — on ride-hailing companies was defeated and the two companies promptly suspended their operations in the city.

would create a "truly competitive marketplace"

It's fascinating that Austin is thinking of lifting regulations on taxicabs to allow them to compete with Uber and Lyft more directly. At the same time, the two ride-hailing companies have ceased operations in Austin because of regulations they feel are too onerous. Both Lyft and Uber have aggressively resisted additional regulations that would implement limits on fares and the number of drivers in numerous markets, while taxi operators have generally argued that, because market restrictions do apply to cabs, the market isn't a level playing field.

Spillar has created a working group of taxi and limousine company representatives, as well as members of Austin's taxi drivers union, in order to get them on board with his proposal. If all goes well, Spillar says it could go in front of Austin's City Council as soon as August. The whole point may be moot, however, if Lyft and Uber keep refusing to operate in Austin.

http://goo.gl/iyE3Ic
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A boss at a South Derbyshire taxi firm has been ordered to pay more than £1,300 for operating a private hire vehicle with an unlicensed driver.

The vehicle, which was stopped in Ashby on June 5 last year as part of an enforcement operation being conducted by North West Leicestershire District Council, was being driven by Khawar Sadaf Khan, working for Swad Cars, based on the Sharpe's Industrial Estate off Alexandra Road, Swadlincote.

When Khan was unable to produce his licence, the case was reported to South Derbyshire District Council as the licensing authority, which established that Khan was not registered as a private hire driver in South Derbyshire.

The vehicle was, however, licensed to Mohammed Afzal, one of the operators of Swad Cars.

When interviewed under caution, Afzal admitted that Swad Cars had allowed Khan to drive the private hire vehicle and given him work without requiring him to produce his licence.

Appearing at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court, Afzal, of Branston Road, Burton, admitted knowingly operating a private hire vehicle within a controlled district with an unlicensed driver.

The 31-year-old was fined £350 and was told to pay a victim surcharge of £35, as well as costs of £1,000.

At an earlier hearing Khan, 30, of Sunnyhill Avenue, Derby, pleaded guilty by post to driving a private hire vehicle without having a current private hire licence and, in his absence, Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court fined him £300, as well as ordering him to pay £250 in costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

A South Derbyshire District Council spokesman said: "Making sure that private hire vehicles are properly licensed is part of our commitment to upholding safety standards in South Derbyshire.

"Private hire firm operators have a duty of care to their customers and must work with us to ensure they are meeting this requirement."

http://goo.gl/fVErkt
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DARLINGTON


A CYBER pervert who groomed two schoolgirls told police his online messaging was "harmless and just my sense of humour".

David Robinson, 28, was yesterday (Wednesday, May 11) jailed for 16 months for inciting one of the youngsters to engage in sexual activity.

The jobless taxi driver, from Darlington, also told detectives he thought the other girl - aged just 12 - looked 17.

There were gasps and tears in the public gallery at Teesside Crown Court where victims' relatives were sitting.

Judge Peter Armstrong told Robinson: "You know full well that this sort of behaviour is not to be tolerated.

"It seems to me clearly you had an unhealthy and distorted way of thinking.

"You now accept that this was not something which can be treated as anything of a joke. This was serious as far as your victims were concerned."

One of the girls said in an impact statement how her schooling suffered and she endures nightmares.

Robinson groomed both on Facebook, paying them compliments and making filthy suggestions, said Shaun Dodds, prosecuting.

He planned to meet them - although that never happened - and told a probation worker his intention was to have sex.

Defence barrister, Simon Perkins, said Robinson became bored after losing his job, which may have contributed to his offending.

"Given this is a computer crime, there is no suggestion of any associated child sex offences like indecent images to give the court grounds for thinking that this is an entrenched inappropriate interest in underage girls," he added.

"There was no masquerading in this offending and there was no actual activity."

The court heard how Robinson has one previous conviction for burglary when he was 16 - when he broke into a neighbouring family's home after they went on holiday and stole a 14-year-old's underwear.

In this case, he groomed the girls between 2013 and 2014 but was caught after a relative of one of them found massages on her iPod, and then pretended to be the youngster.

When Robinson asked what she was doing, she said she was going shopping with her aunt, said Mr Dodds.

The pervert replied: "Make sure you buy something sexy, some red lace underwear. You can get it from Anne Summers."

Robinson, who admitted two charges of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, was also banned from working with under-16s.

Judge Armstrong told him: "Immediate imprisonment must be imposed to deter you and anyone else from thinking it is ok to speak to young girls in this appalling way over Facebook or any other social media."

Robinson, who moved to Caerphilly, Glamorgan, after his arrest, was also banned from having unsupervised contact with girls under-16.

http://goo.gl/72Xd8A