BIRMINGHAM

Traffic and travel chaos is predicted across Birmingham for a FORTNIGHT as taxi drivers have stage go-slow protests.

Cabbies have announced two weeks worth of go-slow protests around the city centre.

The move comes after they claimed they were 'steamrolled' over the Clean Air Zone.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which represents hundreds of black cab drivers in Birmingham, confirmed it will hold the first demonstration from Tuesday, April 23.

The first demo will be held between 8am and 10am.

They will conduct another go-slow between the same times the following day before then targeting the evening rush hours.

https://bit.ly/2GCZjJI 
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BURNLEY

A WOMAN had to jump out of the path of a taxi as it ploughed into a petrol station.

Chloe Egan feared for her life as a black Hackney cab crashed through the Spar shop at Kitchen’s Garage in Trafalgar Street, Burnley, at 11pm on Saturday.

The car had gone through a large glass window and stopped in the middle of the store, destroying stock.

Ms Egan said the shelving nearest to the window started toppling down towards her.

She said: “I jumped out of the way as the taxi came past my feet and into the shop.

“The taxi was inches from me.

“I was very scared because I did not know what was going on. It was frightening.”

The site was closed for several hours while the car was removed from the store.

Staff confirmed the Spar shop opened today but only to serve customers buying fuel.

The majority of the store was inaccessible due to the scale of the destruction.

source: Lancashire Telegraph
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OXFORD

A barrister who operated a cab company without a licence has been fined £600 by the bar regulator.

Ahtiq Raja, who was a barrister at 9 King’s Bench Walk until September this year, was the director of taxi company Call a Cab. The firm was last year found guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court of five separate offences for operating a cab in a controlled district without a licence.

According to local news reports at the time, Raja and his taxi firm were ordered to pay a fine of £25,000 after a two-year legal battle. The firm was also banned from operating in Aylesbury.

The Bar Standards Board found Raja culpable of professional misconduct for behaving in a way that was likely to diminish trust and confidence in the profession. The finding was as a result of determination by consent.

 http://www.lawgazette.co.uk