...MATTERS
GLOUCESTERSHIRE DISABLED HIT BY AXE TO TAXI FARE SUBSIDY
The end of subsidised taxi fares in Glouces- tershire will hit the ill and disabled in rural areas hard, it is feared. Murray Watson, of Chalford, who chairs the patient support group BreathEasy,
is
one of many people in the county worried
about the implications of the cuts.
“There are many elder- ly people who live in a rural environment who need to travel to doc- tors or hospital and who have neither rela- tives or friends to help them,” Mr Watson told the Gloucester Citizen.
“Often there is no bus service where they live.” From April this year, Gloucestershire Coun- ty Council will take over responsibility to provide the conces- sionary fares service - but taxis are not includ- ed in the scheme.
TAXI TO THE SHOPS FOR STOCKPORT WINNER
An 83-year-old has cashed in from her cab rides after winning a competition.
Florence Heath scooped £100 in vouchers to spend at high street shops after she entered Stockport Homes’ Carecall cab competition.
Carecall is a monitor- ing service for elderly
and vulnerable resi- dents.
Three taxis branded with the Carecall logo have been travelling around Stockport for the past three months - and residents were encouraged to get in touch to win the prize. Florence told the Stockport Express: “When my daughter
heard about the com- petition she told me to look out for the taxis and when I saw one I entered.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was told I’d won.” To find out more about Carecall log on to www. stockporthomes. org or call 0500 130 585
WHEELCHAIRS’ WEIGHT TOO MUCH FOR DUNDEE TAXIS
The size and weight of some modern wheel- chairs is making it difficult for taxi drivers in Dundee to pick up disabled passengers, claims a body repre- senting cabbies in the city.
Dundee Taxi Associa- tion (DTA) admits that some vehicles in the city have problems with accommodating large wheelchairs. Tony Waters, secretary of the DTA, made the admission after a recent report in which Dundee mother Linda Duff said she had been ignored when trying to hail a taxi for herself and her dis- abled daughter Claire, who uses an electric wheelchair.
Mrs Duff and Claire, 20, had to make their
own way back to their home after failing to secure a lift, with Linda claiming many simply did not want the has- sle of a disabled passenger.
Responding to the arti- cle, Mr Waters said in a letter to Dundee Courier and Advertis- er: “The DTA were concerned about the lady’s complaint in The Courier so we carried out some inquiries to see if we could root out the bad apples. “One of our members told us that the lady in question has a wheel- chair that is too big and heavy to be safely transported in his type of taxi and therefore it is not easily turned or safely secured. The driver has tried to turn the electric wheelchair
manually and hurt him- self in doing so and was off work for seven days.
“The driver has made the cab officers aware of this and they again iterated that if a wheel- chair is too big and cannot be safely secured, it should not be transported.
“If the driver was to take a wheelchair pas- senger that was not strapped in properly he would be in trouble and breaking the law.” Mrs Duff has said that the size of Claire’s wheelchair does make access to buses diffi- cult.
Mr Waters added: “Unfortunately until there is a vehicle out there that fits all we are going to have these disturbing complaints.”
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