Cabbies call off go-slow during races

May 2 2008 by Paul Mannion, Chester Chronicle

Cabbies call off go-slow during races

PLANS by Chester’s 77 black cab drivers to cause chaos at next week’s race meeting have been scrapped after the police said they wouldn’t be able to cope.

Angry Hackney cab drivers had threatened to create rolling roadblocks on the city’s streets and disrupt the three-day Chester Racecourse event.

Chairman of Chester Hackney Carriage Association Richard Barker said: “The police phoned and they are concerned about what we were going to do over the races because their resources are stretched normally and they might have to bring in extra police if we blockaded.

“They were very concerned about not being able to cope. I went back to the members and we voted against it. We don’t want to alienate the public.”

The taxi ranks were overflowing again yesterday (Thursday) as all Chester’s black cabs took to the streets causing major congestion in the city centre.

The drivers repeated last Thursday’s standstill to protest against council proposals to lift limits on their numbers.

Mr Barker added: “We wanted to show that the ranks cannot cope with any more taxis. With both ranks full we were just driving around, there’s not enough space.

“We felt we had proved our point and called it off so the traffic could start clearing.”

More than 2,000 people have signed up to a petition created by Chester Hackney Carriage Association asking for an unmet demand survey.

They want the survey, paid for by the drivers, to be carried out before any decisions on numbers are made.