Chester cabbies’ threat to blockade May Races

Apr 25 2008 by Paul Mannion, Chester Chronicle

ANGRY black cab drivers are threatening to bring chaos to Chester’s three-day May Festival by creating rolling roadblocks on the city’s streets.

They are protesting about the city council’s move to scrap the limit on hackney cab numbers.

Richard Barker, chairman of the Chester Hackney Carriage Association, said: “It will cause mayhem, but that is what we are going to do.

“It’s our living under threat and we are going to fight for it.”

Councillors believe more black cabs will improve the service for passengers at night and create more cabs accessible to the disabled.

Yesterday, all 77 black cab drivers brought the city’s bus station and Foregate Street to a standstill by flooding the city centre. Buses and their passengers were particularly hit.

Full story in Friday’s Chronicle.