Merseyside's taxi drivers could all face mandatory new drug tests when they try and renew their licence.

The drastic new measures are proposed in a report from police and crime commissioner Jane Kennedy's office and follow a spate of arrests of taxi drivers for driving under the influence of drugs.

From the start of last year to November police had arrested more than 40 drivers for the offence - and then revealed shortly after that eight drivers were arrested in as many days.

The new report, which will be discussed next week, said that Ms Kennedy met with council leaders and the metro mayor earlier this month to try and push the idea forward.

The document says: "Following a huge increase in the number of taxi drivers being arrested for drug driving offences, last April the Commissioner took the issue of ‘drug testing’ for taxi drivers to the authority, advising that she would like to see a standardised approach to drug testing implemented across the region.

"This would mean that all prospective taxi drivers and those seeking to renew their licenses would be subject to a mandatory drug test."

A post on Merseyside Police's Safer Roads Unit twitter account last year  revealed how a driver had tested positive and over the limit for three drugs while he had a paying customer in the vehicle.

A report from the courts said the unnamed driver had cocaine, Benzoylecgonine (a compound tested for in cocaine urinalyses), and Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (a compound common in cannabis) in his system when he was stopped back in June.

The amount of Benzoylecgonine in his blood was 16 times above the "specified limit", the tweet said.

That driver lost his licence.

Improving road safety is one of Ms Kennedy's priorities as PCC, with the aim of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on Merseyside's roads to less than 400.

For 2017 that number stood at 557.

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BIRMINGHAM

 Police find taxi bumper and headlight held together with CABLE TIES

This hapless man had a long walk home after cops found the bumper of his taxi was held together by CABLE TIES.

Flabbergasted police made the discovery when they stopped the private hire taxi on the Washwood Heath Road.

During an examination, they found the bumper and headlights was attached by thin cable ties and the engine was emitting an unhealthy sound.

They also found defective bodywork and immediately took the car off the road until all repairs are carried out.

The headlight could have caused damage or injury to other people on the road had it flown off.

The ‘cable car’ was one of 35 vehicles stopped and checked over during an enforcement operation on Wednesday.

Bham Taxi Cop, who is an enforcement and liaison officer for private hire and hackney carriages, said: “The condition of the vehicle fell well below the accepted standards of a private hire and many of the parts, should they have come off, would have posed a danger to any other road user.”

Meanwhile the public were left shaking their heads in disbelief at a tweet showing images of the taxi.

Wayne Casey said: “The guy deserves something for ingenuity surely.”

Jo tweeted: “Far too many professional drivers not conducting daily checks.

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