DERBY

An angry taxi driver thinks that a leading city councillor should resign from his position on the authority's licensing committee after remarks he made about the safety of Derby's yellow cabs.

Mohammed Saghir claims that comments made by Councillor Mick Barker earlier this week - when he said he was not personally prepared to use the city's yellow cabs "because of the dangerous state of the fleet" - have cost him and other drivers business.

Mr Barker spoke out after Derby City Council's licensing committee failed to back a policy to modernise yellow cabs so they would have lower emissions by January 2021.

The council also wanted to limit taxis to a maximum age of 10 years for diesel and 12 for what are known as ZEC ULEV vehicles, which are "ultra-low emission".

Instead, members of the licensing committee voted to introduce cleaner vehicles by 2025 and to make the maximum age of taxis 15 years. Some are already at least 12 years old.

Labour councillors have since said that they took the decision to oppose the proposed policy "to support drivers' livelihoods and avoid them and their families falling into financial difficulties".

Mr Barker said last week: "It is the dangerous state of the hackney fleet, defective upon inspection, that leads me to speak out as an individual in my refusal to use a hackney carriage in Derby - until modernisation of the fleet is accepted by both the owners, drivers and the city's licensing committee."

But Mr Saghir accused Mr Barker of having "biased and extremely one-sided opinions" as a licensing committee member.

He said: "Mr Barker has quite clearly politically-motivated opinions. He has caused me and many of my colleagues to lose a lot of business.

"He should resign as a taxi licensing committee member as we cannot possibly get a fair hearing as a trade with a councillor that holds such malicious and calculated views."

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/taxi-driver-calls-derby-councillor-3418434
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 MANCHESTER

A gunman fired a shot at a taxi with the driver and a passenger inside, police have revealed.

Detectives have launched a major investigation and are appealing for witnesses.

No one was injured.

Police have described the gun attack in Newton Heath on Sunday as 'an isolated incident' and said they 'believe there is no wider threat to the community'.

The taxi - which hasn't been described by police - was shot at as it pulled out of Harmer Close, a cul-de-sac off busy Oldham Road.

Police said the gunman then got into what witnesses described as a light-coloured Audi car and began to pursue the taxi.

The Audi hit the taxi on Oldham Road before both vehicles continued on towards Manchester city centre after the collision.

No further details have been released by GMP.

Police were called to the scene shortly before 3.05pm on Sunday.

A GMP spokesman said: "Early enquiries suggest that the offender shot at the taxi, which had the driver as well as a passenger in it as it left Harmer Close.
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"The offender then got into what witnesses described as a light coloured Audi and began to pursue the taxi.

"The taxi made its way down Oldham Road as the Audi collided with it, before both cars continued towards Manchester."

Detective Inspector Mark Davis said the driver and passenger were left 'understandably shaken'.

Making a direct appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time and saw anything suspicious to come forward, he said: "Thankfully no one was injured in this incident.

"However that doesn’t mean to say that we are not treating it extremely seriously.

"We have a dedicated team of detectives working hard to establish the facts and trace those responsible, however I would like to stress that we cannot do this alone and often vital evidence lies with witnesses and members of the public.

"I'm particularly keen to speak to anyone that was on or around Oldham Road at the time of the collision between the Audi and the taxi and may have seen something that didn't seem quite right.

"Do you have dash-cam footage or CCTV that could assist us?

"No matter how insignificant it may seem- any information could prove invaluable.

"I feel it is also important to take this opportunity to stress that we are treating this as an isolated incident and believe there is no wider threat to the community."

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