Nottingham City Council has said it plans to upgrade its CCTV to tackle taxi drivers who park illegally near the train station. 

The authority said it has had complaints about Hackney cab drivers parking on double yellow lines in Station Street, outside of ranks.

The Nottingham Licensed Taxi Owners and Drivers Association said there was not enough space for them to park.
They said taxis needed to be at the station as it provides a lot of work.

Des Storey, the council's team leader in parking enforcement, said: "This is an ongoing issue with Station Street, we have to have an officer on here all day, every day and that's taking the officer away from their core duties.

"We have traffic watch cameras anyway so it makes sense that the camera can also be an enforcement camera should we have any problems with over-ranking."

Jamil Ahmed, the chair of the Nottingham Licensed Taxi Owners and Drivers Association, defended the actions of the drivers.

He said the new ranks installed as part of a major refurbishment at the station were too small.
He said: "We don't have adequate space on the taxi rank and 95% of work comes from the station, we don't have any other option.

"The simplest answer is that if the taxi ranks were large enough to cater for the work on Station Street then there wouldn't be any issue at all."

It is not the first time the city council and Hackney cab drivers have clashed.

In 2011, the authority brought in fines because drivers were causing congestion and other problems by blocking bus stops and spilling over from ranks into pay and display bays
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PART of a York taxi rank could be turned temporarily into a loading bay to ensure business deliveries can continue during a square’s revamp.

City of York Council is considering shortening the rank in St Saviourgate to allow for deliveries to properties affected by the second phase of the redevelopment of King’s Square.

The proposal has been attacked by a driver, who wrote to The Press to raise concerns about the impact on regular customers, in particular elderly passengers, and also on drivers.


The driver, who asked not to be named, claimed: “It is quite obvious that City of York Council is not the slightest bit interested in the safety of its senior citizens, many of whom are in their 80s and a few of whom are 90 years of age plus.

“These senior citizens and the infirm will no doubt be expected to walk further and struggle with their shopping, while fit and able van and lorry drivers are given preferential treatment, and the hackney carriage drivers who have paid the council for the privilege of using the rank are told to go somewhere else.

“Our earnings will be decimated.”

A council spokeswoman said residents, businesses and traders had played, and would continue to play, an important part in the King’s Square scheme.

The scheme is part of the wider Reinvigorate York project. It is intended to improve the square’s appearance and provide better seating, pedestrian access and street-performance space.

The spokeswoman said: “Following consultation, a large majority favoured the idea of splitting the scheme in to two halves, allowing deliveries access either in from the north or south and turning in St Andrewgate.

“Further proposals for phase two could see St Saviourgate taxi rank shortened to allow deliveries to those properties affected by the King’s Square works.

“Taxis would also still be able to use the feeder rank outside the Central Methodist Church.

“We recently wrote to businesses in the area to put these proposals forward and ask for feedback.


“Any decisions will be made public in advance of the works starting to allow plenty of time for those affected to make suitable arrangements.”
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London

A taxi flipped onto its roof after colliding with a G4S van.

Firefighters and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) were called to the collision in the junction of Thessaly Road with Wandsworth Road, Nine Elms, at 11.30pm last night.

The taxi driver was able to escape from the vehicle before the emergency services arrived.

He was taken to hospital by the LAS suffering from head injuries. The G4S driver did not require hospital treatment.

A spokeswoman from the LAS said: "We sent one of our ambulance crews and a single responder in a car to the scene.


"We treated one patient for a minor head injury, who was taken to St Thomas' Hospital with a head injury."

Firefighters remained at the scene to check the taxi was safe before the road could open again.
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Teeside.

A taxi driver is waiting to learn his fate after being caught with thousands of counterfeit DVDs and CDs.

David Anthony Masih, 49, was found to have dodgy discs in the boot of his taxi. Many more, including porn, were later found at a Middlesbrough address linked to him.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court was told how cases containing CDs and DVDs were seized from the boot of a hackney carriage in June 2012.

An investigation was launched by Middlesbrough Council's trading standards department and a sample selection of discs were sent to the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) for examination.

Liam O’Brien, for Middlesbrough Council, said the BPI investigator concluded that all of the discs were infringing copies of copyright works.

They included reggae, dance and R&B CDs. Films included Treasure Buddies, Cars, Jimmy Grimble, The Incredibles and Rise of Planet of the Apes.

The court heard how a search warrant was executed at an address in Kildwick Grove, Park End, Middlesbrough in August 2012.

Trading standards officers found cases containing a large number of discs.

In total, 2,476 discs were recovered. Of these, 11 contained pornographic material.

Masih, who gave his address in court as Stamford Street, Middlesbrough, was due to go on trial at Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

But on the day of trial he pleaded guilty to 13 offences including possessing goods with a false trademark for sale or hire and possessing an article which infringed copyright.

Dominic Tate, representing Masih, told the court that it was “a crude ad-hoc operation” and the discs were not particularly high quality.

He said Masih would sell them for £1 or £2 each normally to family members but also to members of the public, sometimes at car boot sales.

Mr Tate said there was no evidence of large quantities of cash being made. He was just trying to make some extra money, the court was told.

Magistrates told Masih they wanted a pre-sentence report before considering what to do with him. His case was adjourned until February 18 and he was granted bail.

After the case Councillor Charlie Rooney, Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “This prosecution sends out a strong message to anyone involved in these illegal businesses.

“Trading on the reputation of large companies without making any contribution to production and distribution costs, or to the public purse, is unacceptable. We will continue to take action when they are brought to our attention.”