A taxi company has been banned from operating in Three Rivers after breaking licensing rules.
Twelves, which used to be based in Rickmansworth, was employing unlicensed drivers and using inadequately insured vehicles to transport adults and children as part of its contractual work.
The company claimed the vehicles were ambulances in order to avoid complying with licensing requirements.
The council has now revoked the company’s operator licence “as a matter of public safety”.
Cllr Steve Drury, chairman of Three Rivers’ regulatory committee, said: "Three Rivers Council will take positive action against those who are found to be carrying members of the public in a manner which does not properly comply with our conditions and the legislation.
“The safety of the travelling public is our priority.”
It is the latest in a series of crackdowns on professional drivers in the Three Rivers area.
St Albans Magistrates Court rejected an appeal by Mr Choudhury, after the council refused his application to renew his private hire driving license.
The renewal was refused because he failed to disclose a caution on 1 October 2014 for battery.
Council spokesman Kevin Snow said: “Because this was an offence of violence within three years of the application, Three Rivers officers applied the council’s policy on convictions and refused the renewal.
“The court read evidence from Three Rivers officers about previous failures to disclose no insurance offences and a recent caution for failing to display plates and badge in December 2015.”
The court said the caution for battery, “with such an isolated incident of violence”, could have been mitigated.
But Mr Snow said: “Failing to disclose relevant convictions had happened on two previous occasions and the explanation of the appellant was so implausible as to be dishonest.”
A taxi driver was refused his license renewal after it came to light he had two speeding offences in December 2014, when he was disqualified for 56 days for doing 120mph in a 70 limit and 55 mph in a 30 limit area.
Ifzhal Sabir also failed to disclose a previous caution for touting in London.
Mr Sabir was ordered to pay £300 in costs to Three Rivers District Council.
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/14573573.Taxi_company_banned_after_flouting_licencing_rules/?
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BIRMINGHAM
A taxi driver took a passenger wanting to travel on a four-mile journey in the Black Country on a detour to Birmingham – costing them twice the fare, a court heard.
Talbraiz Ali, 35, was asked by his customer to go from Cape Hill in Smethwick to Sandwell and Dudley railway station.
But instead, Ali, who was working for 247 Cars and had only been a taxi driver for 28 days, took the passenger to Harborne and then charged £15 for the trip – over double the expected fare of £7.
Ali, of Minstead Road, Erdington, pleaded guilty to a charge of unnecessary prolonging of a journey by hackney carriage at Sandwell Magistrates Court yesterday.
www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2016/06/22/taxi-driver-in-court-for-four-mile-detour-on-four-mile-journey/?#3dhAxKBSLLwwGMwX.99
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BATH
The taxi firm Uber which lets people order a cab using their mobile phones launches in Bath tomorrow.
The company is bringing its "convenient and affordable" uberX service to the city from 4pm Friday (June 24).
Using an app on their smartphones, people will be able to book a taxi and pay for it using a credit or debit card linked to to their account.
The general manager for Uber in Bath Fouzan Ali, said:"We're really excited to be launching Uber in Bath.
"Over 10,000 people in the city have opened the app in the last 90 days, so we know there is real demand for the service here.
"Uber has been a huge success across the UK and we are excited to be able to offer a new option for both locals and tourists in Bath. People will now be able to book a convenient, safe and affordable ride at the push of a button.
"This launch also means that locally licensed drivers can partner with us and become their own bosses - choosing when and where they work."
Uber received the green light to operate as a licensed taxi firm across Bath and North East Somerset last September.
It said it will only hire drivers who are licensed for private hire by B&NES Council and who have undergone an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check - the same process black cab drivers, teachers and care workers go through.
It will offer "an easy way to travel safely and at a low cost, complementing Bath's existing transportation options." A journey from Bath Spa station to the RUH would cost about £8, Uber said.
Uber launched in Bristol last June and it operates in more than 20 cities across the country.
Once a taxi has been requested, the rider can see the driver's photo, name and car registration and can watch the car arrive in real-time on a map. The app then notifies the rider when the car arrives.
Uber currently operates in towns and cities across the UK including London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, Bristol, Merseyside, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Leicester, Belfast, Cardiff, Southampton, Sunderland and parts of the Home Counties.
http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/uber-taxi-firm-launches-in-bath-tomorrow/story-29426212-detail/story.html
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CAMBRIDGE
Taxi drivers have hit out at police for “silly one-off stings" on cyclists riding without lights and called for tough action to stop the danger in Cambridge.
Police have previously mounted numerous crackdowns on riding without lights as part of a programme to educate cyclist about the dangers of not being illuminated.
An example of the operations include a month-long targeting of riders in 2014 when hundreds of cyclists were fined for riding without lights in just a few Cambridge streets.
A total of 304 fines were handed out to cyclists without lights and a further 151 were stopped by police officers and given a ticking off.
Officers were using a special scheme used in Cambridge in which offenders get a chance to avoid paying up under the Lights Instead of Tickets (LIT) project. Those caught are given seven days to buy lights and fix them to their bike – and have their £30 fixed penalty notice scrapped.
But taxi drivers want more continuous action taken and have accused police of allowing cyclists to get away with having no lights.
Paul Bradley, general secretary of Cambridge Hackney Carriage Association which represents more than 200 cabbies, said: “How many cyclists without lights have the police stopped as what I see at night the police are ignoring this going on in front of them along with the other lawlessness they do. Not the silly little stings once in a blue moon. What happened to the cycle cops? Bikes nicked?
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BURY
AN EASTERN European taxi driver took a council worker on a "white-knuckle ride" — prompting a change in town-hall rules.
As a result of the bizarre incident, new drivers who come from outside the European Union must now have their driving skills assessed and prove they have a good grasp of England and maths before becoming taxi drivers in Bury.
A senior council source said: "We had received a series of complaints about a particular driver who had a licence from an Eastern European country.
"A licensing officer went out with him in the car and he was doing all sorts of things, driving through red lights and going the wrong way around roundabouts.The driver didn't seem to appreciate that he was doing anything wrong."
After what the source describes as the "white-knuckle ride," the driver had his licence suspended.
Bury Council's licensing committee chairman, Cllr David Jones, said the council changed the rules to improve driving standards.
At a meeting on June 9, the committee voted to ensure new black-cab and private-hire drivers provide evidence to the council that they have had a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency driving assessment.
If they cannot produce documentary evidence that they have a GCSE in English and maths, or the equivalent qualifications, they must pass council tests in communication and numeracy.
A report to the committee said: "It is possible for the holder of a non-European Union licence who has not passed a test (in the European Union) to (become a taxi driver) without having to re-sit a driving test or to have their driving ability reassessed.
"A number of individuals who have appeared before the committee have claimed they could not understand questions posed to them, or cannot communicate effectively in English to the extent that they have brought people with them to interpret on their behalf.
"Licensed drivers with poor communication skills are at a disadvantage when dealing with customers — particularly those (customers) under the influence of alcohol."
The Hackney Drivers Association chairman Charles Oakes, who represents black-cab drivers in Bury, said: "I can understand why the council wants to keep standards high and why it is important for drivers to be able to drive at a good standard and to have a good grasp of English and maths.
"However, there is a risk that councils up and down the country are making drivers follow too many rules and regulations and we should be aware of that becoming an issue in future."
Cllr Jones said the committee would monitor the implementation of the new rules to see whether it was necessary to look at introducing to them to existing taxi drivers too.
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