Wigan’s hackney carriage drivers will have to stump up the £7,000 cost of an independent survey that found there was no need for more vehicles. As reported in the Evening Post last month, town hall officers had commissioned a report to see if the current amount of Hackney Carriages in service in the borough was suitable. 

The independent assessment found there could have been a case for “significant unmet demand” but the closure of Morrisons in The Galleries has had a negative impact. Several licence holders, who asked not to be named, questioned whether the town hall was correct in recovering the cost of survey from an increase to this year’s fee. They claimed in the years since the last survey, hackney carriage drivers had been paying towards a fresh one, meaning those funds should have been used rather adding to next year’s payment.

 However, town hall officers have moved to clarify the situation, explaining the fees paid in previous years had been spent on other “operational costs.” 

A spokesman told the Evening Post: “The costs of all taxi licensing fees are reviewed on an annual basis and fees are calculated based on the costs incurred for the particular licence category. “The cost of the previous survey was recovered through an increase in the hackney carriage vehicle licence fee at the time. “All fees that vehicle owners have been paying since then have been to cover normal operational costs including licence processing, vehicle testing, enforcement and provision of taxi ranks. “We have clearly explained this to vehicle owners over the past few months in detail to reassure them.”

 A town hall committee last year ruled the borough was not in need of more hackney carriages following recommendations from council officers. But the authority is required to carry out an independent review to ensure the correct decision had been made. Specialists CTS carried out the survey, which included almost 300 hours of observation of taxi ranks across the borough. It concluded there no demand for more hackney carriage licences to be issued in the borough.

 Licence holders are required by law to pay for such surveys and a recent council report reveals the £7,000 total will be recovered from the borough’s 136 drivers, at a rate of £51 each.

http://bit.ly/2h4m0YM
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 A teenage moped rider has died following a collision in Hayes.

Police were called to Baston Road shortly before 4.30pm yesterday following the crash, which also involved a taxi, near the junction with Five Elms Road.

Officers and the ambulance service attended but the moped rider, an 18-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed.

The driver of the car - a white Toyota Auris mini-cab - stopped at the scene. He was not arrested and has been assisting officers with their enquiries.

Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Catford Traffic Garage are investigating.

Any witnesses, or anyone with any information about the collision, are asked to call the witness line on 020 8285 1574.

http://bit.ly/2gRlRcV

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LEEDS.

 A MINICAB driver was caught watching a Bollywood movie on his tablet as he drove a horrified passenger at 30mph.

Stunned passenger David Johnson, 44, began filming the distracted cabbie after spying his front seat flick.

Horrified David, who holds both HGV and coach licences, said: “He kept looking down to his right and I got curious.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the tablet.

“His earphones were in and he wasn’t paying any attention to the road

"He was putting my life, his life and other people's lives in danger.

"What would have happened had someone walked out in front of him?

"What if he veered off the road and crashed into a house or worse still a group of pedestrians?

"It only takes a second."

http://bit.ly/2h1AsjU

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NORFOLK

 Calls have been made for better enforcement of the city’s taxi ranks after one driver was allegedly hit by a member of the public.

Father-of-one Paul Duddell suffered injuries to his left knee when an illegally parked motorist attempted to run him down.

The hackney cab driver had been trying to pull up onto the taxi feeder rank on Gaol Hill at around 5.30pm on Friday.

But he was prevented from doing so by a man in his 50s who was waiting inside what Mr Duddell believed to be a silver car.

When Mr Duddell asked the driver to move on, he was met with verbal abuse, before being rammed by the car as he walked onto the pavement.

“He just deliberately drove at me and knocked my off my balance,” the 52-year-old said. “I couldn’t move my knee because it was in so much pain.

“I’m just thankful nothing was broken. It could have snapped my leg and would have been 28 years of taxi driving gone.”

Mr Duddell, who lives near Queens Road, is now calling for better signage and more frequent traffic warden patrols around the ranks.

He said police were contacted after the incident, but was told by officers that a CCTV camera monitoring the area was facing the other way at the time.

Meanwhile, the driver of the vehicle which hit him, sped off as Mr Duddell’s colleagues - parked near Guildhall - came to his assistance.

“This happening more and more, where members of the public are parking on our taxi ranks and when you ask them to move, they turn aggressive,” Mr Duddell said.

A spokesman for Norfolk police confirmed they were investigating the incident during which it is alleged a suspect has driven into the taxi driver causing minor injuries to his leg.

The spokesman, who confirmed CCTV cameras did not pick up the incident, said it was thought a silver car was involved and urged anyone with information to contact police on 101.

http://bit.ly/2h4vUcG
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RUNCORN

A car thief who stole keys from inside a house and drove off in his victim’s taxi from Runcorn was sentenced to more than two years in a young offenders institute.

Callum Quirk, 18, of The Knoll, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, November 29.

He pleaded guilty to burglary and theft of a motor vehicle and was sentenced, receiving 876 days in a young offenders institution for burglary and three months concurrent for theft of a motor vehicle.

Police said the case related to a burglary at a semi-detached house on Saltwood Drive in the early hours of Tuesday, September 29, in which access was gained via a conservatory and keys to a Ford Mondeo taxi were taken, with the vehicle then being driven off from the driveway and leaving the owner without their vehicle.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/taxi-thief-who-burgled-house-12262528