A TAXI driver’s campaign to get his licence reinstated is over after more than a year out of work.
Father-of-three Jason Roberts, of Cedar Avenue, Ellesmere Port, said he felt he had been ‘discriminated against’ after the police and Cheshire West and Chester Council refused to reinstate the licence for 15 months, leaving him with no other form of income.
Mr Roberts worked for Circle Cabs in the town for four years before he had a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check when he came to renew his licence in 2011, during which time his licence was suddenly revoked.
But when he applied for a new licence recently, authorities granted him a new CRB check, leaving him free to continue working as a taxi driver.
At a civil hearing held at Chester Magistrates Court last week, Cheshire West and Chester Council reached an agreement with Mr Roberts, for the licence to be reinstated.
The 31-year-old said he was relieved the battle was finally over but intended to take action against the police for the 15 months he’d been unable to work.
“I had done nothing wrong, I was never arrested or charged or anything and I always felt this was completely unfair,” he said.
“I felt embarrassed and ashamed because I had no other way of making money and the whole thing was making me ill, I’ve had to be living on my late dad’s inheritance.”
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesman said: “Where requested and appropriate, police and other agencies provide the local authority with information regarding an individual’s offending history or similar data when the individual concerned is applying for a licence to trade, or in this case for a taxi licence.
“The decision to grant such a licence or permit is made by the local authority but we are unable to comment on individual cases due to data protection purposes.”
A spokesman for Cheshire West and Chester Council said: “We can confirm that Mr Roberts’s taxi licence has been re-issued this week.”
