LEICESTER

A 79-year-old woman with dementia was left in tears after a taxi driver refuse to let her go until she paid him an extra £4 towards the fare.

Joyce Gibson, from Humberstone, was brought home by Swift Fox Cabs after a hospital appointment at Leicester Royal Infirmary, last Monday.

The journey had been organised by Arriva Patient Services, which offers free hospital transport, because it was booked up and unable to take the pensioner home.

Waiting at the address was granddaughter Rachel, who was there to help with her grandmother's wheelchair.

But when the cab arrived the driver demanded extra payment because a confused Joyce had given him two alternative previous addresses - one in Gipsy Lane, and one in Brandon Street, both a couple of miles from her new home.

After half-an-hour, the driver finally brought a tearful Joyce to the address he'd been given by Arriva.

Rachel, who was waiting at the assisted living accommodation, said: "She'd been crying in the taxi.

"As he was bringing her out he said she had given him two old addresses and said he owed her money.

"I said it's up to Arriva to pay you, it's nothing to do with us, but he told me she wasn't going anywhere until someone gives him the money."

Rachel said the driver refused to let Joyce go and she was forced to call one of the wardens, who works at the flats, for help.

"When he said something like, 'people like her shouldn't be going out anyway,' I just started crying," said Rachel. "My nan looked at me - she was crying too - and said, 'what does he mean people like me?'

"It was awful - I'll never forget it. How dare he treat her like that.

"She not just someone with dementia - when she was younger she was always someone who was out-and-about, with her make up on, going to clubs.

"She loved life. Now, this driver is saying 'people like her'. It's disgusting."

After a few minutes, Joyce was back with her granddaughter and the driver had left.

Tracey Whitehead, director of Swift Fox Cabs, based in Church Gate, said an internal investigation was taking place.

She said: "We are aware of the alleged incident and it goes without saying that we are of course fully investigating it, liaising with all relevant parties to establish the full set of facts.

"Out of respect for everyone involved this will be done through the appropriate channels, so we are not in a position to make any specific comments about the allegations until this process has been completed.

"What I would like to highlight, however, is that as a company customer service is our main priority, so we assure everyone that any necessary action will be taken once we have concluded our investigation, in order to ensure that our level of service meets our own expectations and most importantly the customer's expectations."

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-taxi-driver-investigated-claims-left-79/story-28099674-detail/story.html