IN THE NEWS
WE LIVE BY HEATHROW AIRPORT AND DISGUSTING CABBIES ARE RUINING OUR LIVES
“And I said, ‘We live here, mate!’. Now, whenever I leave the house, I have
to put traffic cones up.
Residents near Heathrow Airport say “nightmare” PHV and taxi drivers are ruining their lives - by peeing in the streets, parking in disabled bays and ‘intimidating’ locals. Residents in Stanwell Moor village, located two miles from Terminal 5, say cabbies use the area as a “free” place to wait for jobs. But it is claimed the drivers engage in anti-social behaviour - which has become “a real problem” for the neighbourhood. Cabbies have been spotted peeing behind shops and even defecating on dog walking trails – while others have become “aggressive” towards residents who confront them. Graham Hawkes, 74, said of the cabbie problems: “It’s a nightmare. The entire neighbourhood is fed up with it. I know some people are even considering moving out. “Drivers p*ss in the park, chuck their rubbish on the ground, and line their cars up here so no one can park by their homes.” The pensioner, who has lived in the area for nearly 40 years, said cabbies even use the disabled parking space outside his home. He said: “They park up in my disabled bay – even though it’s clearly labelled and if I ask them to move, they get aggressive. “One squared up to me recently and shouted, ‘Why have we got to move? What right do you have?’
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Otherwise, I can’t use my space.” Diane Griffin, 72, said she had also experienced aggressive behaviour. She said: “You ask them to move on and they get abusive. I’ve been called all sorts – I’ve had cameras shoved in my face. It’s not nice.” Diane and her friend, who also lives in the village, have
taken to
bringing rubbish bags with them on dog walks so they can collect some of the litter. She added: “We pick up what we can because these drivers use the street to clean out their cars. But sometimes those walks can be a bit nasty as you come across other stuff. Look, you can tell the difference between a dog poo and a human one.” Linda Fuller, 72, said she feels “uncomfortable” when cab drivers wait outside her home. “Just the other day, my friend was walking back to hers from our house and a cab driver followed her along the road in his car”, she said. “She came running back here. She felt really intimidated.”
Linda has a sign on her gate telling cabbies not to park on the road – she said it hasn’t made a difference. She claimed: “They don’t care. They just don’t give a damn. They park where they want and leave their engines and lights on until the early hours. So they keep us awake sometimes and add even more pollution – as if it isn’t bad enough already around here.” Spelthorne Council implemented a Public Space Protection Order under section 59 of the Anti-Social
Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 in March. It creates an exclus- ion area in Stan- well Moor and parts of Stanwell where no taxis or PHVs are permitted to park unless: a) they are collecting/dropping off a passenger within the area
b) they reside in the exclusion area, c) the business operating the vehicle is based within the exclusion area.
Warnings of fixed penalty notices have been put up and Heathrow Airport has supplied residents with signs to
leave outside their
properties. But locals feel more could be done. “I’d like to see some more enforcement,” Diane said. “You never actually see wardens around here implementing this – and all you need is for half a dozen drivers to be fined and then word will go around.” A council spokesperson said the Stanwell Moor PSPO had only recently been implemented and so it was too soon to determine whether it was having the desired effect. A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Everyone travelling to Heathrow should respect our neighbours and we work closely with community groups to make this a great place to live and work. “We’re supporting councils as they step up enforcement and exclusion zones while we continue to invest in dedicated waiting areas at the airport, to keep drivers off nearby roads.”
JULY 2024 PHTM
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