BURY

A taxi driver who made inappropriate comments to a young woman, turned of his fare meter and offered her a “free ride” has had his licence revoked.

Bury Council took immediate action against the driver after the licensing authority found that he was being investigated by the police for another incident.

The unnamed driver was also known to Rochdale Council which revoked his licence following similar allegations last year.

Licensing unit manager Michael Bridge told councillors last night about the decision which was taken on January 29 – a day after the young woman’s complaint was received.

He said: “The decision was taken, in consultation with the chairman of the licensing and safety panel, to revoke his licence with immediate effect on the grounds of public safety.”

Cllr Steve Wright said he was “shocked” about the incident and asked why information was not being shared between licensing departments across council boundaries.

He said: “The incident with the Bury driver could have been avoided if we had the information from Rochdale.”

Mr Bridge explained that there is a national register of refusals and revocations which local authorities have started using.

The system, known as NR3, is being actively promoted in Greater Manchester.

But Mr Bridge said it may be a while until this new way of working takes full effect.

He said: “Unfortunately, at the moment there’s a slow uptake across authorities.

“The idea is that we put five years’ backlog on the register. But there’s a process to go through. The people on the register will have to receive a letter to tell them that they are going on and then there’s a process which I won’t go into now. The intention is that everyone is registered on that in Greater Manchester.

“But we can’t go on a fishing expedition.”
Bury Council’s head of trading standards and licensing Angela Lomax added: “As soon as that information came to light, we had a discussion and took that decision.”

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/taxi-driver-who-offered-young-17879430 

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BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT

This is the moment a former Rolls-Royce engineer recovered at the back of a taxi during a dramatic evacuation of Birmingham Airport.

William Jelfs, 83, and Pacita Minshull, 73, had just returned to the county following a flight from Dubai after enjoying a holiday in the Phillipines.

But shortly after landing the couple were evacuated from the airport along with hundreds of passengers after an alarm went off at 12.10pm, reports BirminghamLive.

William, who suffers with problems with his knees and severe arthritis, was left dithering in the freezing cold for nearly half an hour as the pair had to wait to reclaim their luggage.

Waheed Ahmed, from Arrow Cars, offered William and Pacita shelter until they found out when they could go into the building to pick up their suitcases.

Pacita, 73, from Coventry, said: "We were evacuated outside and we did our best to get out as quickly as possible. He was shook up after trying to be as quick as he could. William isn't in the best of health and then when he was outside he was really suffering with the cold. We needed to get him into the warmth.

"One of the taxi drivers called Waheed was kind enough to let us both seek shelter in the warmth of the taxi. William had to lie down in the back of the taxi at first while he recovered. We are just so grateful to the taxi driver and to other people who really helped us."

William, who was a former soldier in the parachute regiment and Rolls Royce engineer, added: "The kindness of people trying to help me was amazing. I was suffering at first but after Waheed was kind enough to let me in the taxi and I soon warmed up. We just need to get our suitcases now so we can go home. It is not ideal to  have to go through this after a long flight but it can't be helped."


https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/taxi-driver-offers-shelter-former-3920736

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Councils in East Staffordshire, North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire are teaming up to crack down on rule-breaking cabbies.

Current legislation governing taxis leaves councils extremely restricted when stopping drivers in their jurisdiction that have been licensed elsewhere.

For councils where drivers often cross between district boundaries such as through East Staffordshire, North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire this is a frequent issue.

A licensing officer for South Derbyshire stopping a taxi licensed in East Staffordshire, for example, has “no authority” other than to refer them back to their licensing authority.

But now, the three district and borough councils are signing a joint agreement to delegate powers to each other.

It will mean that each of the three councils could stop drivers from each of the three authority areas and: inspect their licences, test their vehicles and suspend their licences if the vehicles do not pass the required tests.

A report written by South Derbyshire District Council on the plan says: “These proposals will continue to demonstrate to members of the public that the council takes the protection of local residents, children, and vulnerable adults from the potential harms of private hire licensing seriously, which contributes to the value of taking pride in our place and striving for excellence in all we do.”

It says it has become “increasingly difficult to regulate drivers and vehicles operating within South Derbyshire licensed by other authorities, in particular North West Leicestershire District Council and East Staffordshire Borough Council”.

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/burton/big-crack-down-taxi-drivers-3913590