Police seize two taxis in Chester & Ellesmere Port following complaints about public safety

Dec 14 2009 Chester Chronicle

POLICE seized two taxis in Chester and Ellesmere Port at the weekend as part of a joint safety operation with Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The test purchase operation saw plain clothed officers attempting to flag down private hire vehicles off the streets on Friday and Saturday nights in response to complaints about safety from the public.

Private hire drivers who accept bookings for immediate hire from the public breach the terms of their license and are committing offences. As a result, this invalidates the insurance on their vehicles.

By law, only Hackney vehicles can be hired directly with the driver by the public for immediate hire. Private hire vehicles must be booked in advance through a licensed operator and not directly with the driver.

Trading Standards and Licensing Officers, Cheshire Constabulary police officers and Special Constables worked on the operation on Friday December 4 and Saturday December 5 in Chester and Ellesmere Port.

Plain clothed officers test purchased around 30 private hire vehicles over the two nights between 10pm and 3am.

One taxi was seized in Ellesmere Port and another in Chester. The taxi seized in Chester was licensed under another local authority which has been informed of the breech. The one from Ellesmere Port was licensed by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

PC Mike Callan who ran the operation said: “It was encouraging to see that the majority of private hire vehicles complied with the law and refused to take passengers off the street. However, two vehicles did take the passengers, invalidating their insurance. We seized both the vehicles and now the drivers face both legal action and enforcement from the licensing authority.

“This operation was primarily about safety. If you get into a private hire vehicle you have not pre-booked, they are not insured to carry you and should there be an accident, you will not be covered.

“We were also there to ensure no unlicensed vehicles were attempting to pick up passengers by pretending to be a taxi.”

Police are appealing to people out and about in the evenings to think about their safety and ensure they get home safely.

PC Callan said: “It can be tempting, especially at this time of year when the city centre is busy, to accept a lift off the street from what appears to be a taxi but the consequences could be extremely serious.

“I would appeal to people to only flag down the hackney style taxis which are licensed and insured to pick up passengers on the street. If you want to use a private hire taxi, pre-book it for a certain time using the licensed operator and check it is your taxi before getting inside.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

Attached are two photographs of the seized vehicles.