RANK RUMBLINGS


WOLVERHAMPTON FIRM GATHERS 3000 SIGNATURES AGAINST LOSING TAXI RANK FOR CYCLE LANE


Taxi drivers and their customers in Bilston are protesting after their rank near the bus station was turned into a cycle lane. Wood Street has been designated a bus and cycle lane, preventing drivers from Bilston Radio Cars waiting for passengers there. Several other businesses have also lost access to the back of their properties and drivers have been getting £60 fines if they use the road, even in emergencies. Bilston Radio Cars owner Sawan Lal has amassed 3,000 signatures on a petition calling for Wolverhampton Council to reverse their decision and has led a walking protest from the rank to


the bus station. He said: “We have had this rank for years and everyone in the town knows where to get a taxi but without warning they stopped our cars from waiting there. “We have had so much support over this from people in Bilston from our customers to market


traders, they can all see how unfair this is and how it’s affecting trade.” He added: “We have written to Wolverhampton Council asking them to reconsider their decision but we have heard nothing back. That is why we will keep protesting until they listen.” Bilston North Councillor, Phil Page, is concerned the situation is hitting local businesses hard. He said: “We should be encouraging business in Bilston, we want the town centre to be vibrant but the decision is causing lots of problems. I really hope the council reassesses the situation because Bilston businesses need to be helped not hindered.”


WAVE OF FINES HANDED TO DRIVERS CAUGHT USING WORCESTER’S TAXI RANKS


Almost 100 fines were handed out in November to members of the public caught using taxi ranks as part of a crackdown by the council. Worcester City Council said it handed out handfuls of £70 fines to problem parkers blocking and parking in the city centre’s ranks. A total of 92 non-taxi drivers were slapped with penalty notices by the city council as it stepped up evening patrols following a wave of complaints. The city council said it had handed out nine fines in just one day during a sweeping patrol of the city centre’s taxi ranks, during the first weeks of November and the council plans to carry out more next year.


Some of the city’s taxi drivers had PHTM JANUARY 2023


been calling for extra patrols to put a stop to


over-ranking and


problematic parking and blamed the council for not patrolling ranks regularly and penalising drivers. Long queues of taxis are regularly found spilling out of ranks in the city centre, including on busy routes such as Foregate Street, The Cross and Friar Street, creating problems for pedestrians, cyclists, buses, the emergency services and other drivers. The council’s response to the complaints was discussed by the licensing and environmental health committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on Monday 12 December. Cllr Simon Cronin, who had been leading calls for extra enforcement,


said the number of fines handed out to drivers was a “step in the right direction.” He said: “I’m very pleased to see that we are now sending enforce- ment officers out and particularly in the evening time when people think they can do this without any consequences. I’m delighted that we are enforcing these now and long may it continue. “If we do see an upsurge in this sort of abuse I shall be lobbying for an enhanced level of enforcement in the future. “In the meantime, I’m really glad we have had this sort of response. It would be great to think that it brought the problem to an end, it hasn’t but it’s a step in the right direction.”


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