46 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY


MARCH 2009


TUK-TUK TALES MY OTHER TAXI IS A TUC TUC


SAYS NORWICH BLACK CAB DRIVER


Take one look at Dennis Carroll’s set of wheels and you could be for- given for thinking you were on the streets of Delhi or Bangkok. But this tuc tuc - baby brother of the tuk tuk - is now a familiar sight on the streets of Nor- wich after the black cab driver from New Costessey spent ten months and almost £2,000 restoring the unusual mode of trans- port which he spotted at the side of the road. It has been the fulfil- ment of a ten-year dream for the father of five and grandfather of 14 whose fascination with the three-wheeled taxis has been fuelled by several trips to India over the years.


Mr Carroll loved the way the open aired tuc tucs tootled around busy


Picture courtesy of Eastern Daily Press


cities in India but had no idea how to get one back to this country. But it was while driving his cab around Norwich that he spotted one on a garage forecourt. He snapped it up immedi- ately, thinking it was one of the only ones in the country and per-


haps the only one in East Anglia.


Since then he has worked hard to restore the vehicle, putting on a new roof and shipping in specially branded seats from Asia.


One important addition was seatbelts - some- thing it never would


have had driving around India. He also added legitimate British num- ber plates and lights. He told the Norwich Evening News: “I’ve been going to India for nine years and I always wanted one. One day I was going down Heigham Street and saw


one outside a shop as a gimmick. I went in and said ‘is that for sale?’ And he said anything’s for sale - so I bought it there and then. It was in a terrible state but I’ve done it up since.” Mr Carroll, who lives with his wife Marilyn who works on Norwich market, says the best bit is giving his grand- children a ride and attracting stares from bystanders as he too- tles round the city. He said: “I don’t know how long it’s been in England but I believe it was used as a ‘hop on, hop off’ tourist taxi in Brighton, something I’d love to do in Norwich, but right now I’m just happy driving my grandkids around. “It’s just a lovely little thing, absolutely adorable. I get more


looks driving down the street in this than I would in a Ferrari. If anyone asked me to sell it I wouldn’t for any money. No one in Nor- wich has even seen one. It gets a bit cold in winter but that’s all part of the fun.”


The unusual vehicle, which is also known as a rickshaw, cost just £64 to tax and £250 to insure as a ‘tricycle’. The furthest Mr Carroll has gone so far is a trip to Lowestoft - a 70-mile round trip done on just a gallon of petrol. But he has not just used it for pleasure. Mr Carroll has put the vehi- cle to good use helping to earn over £15,000 for James Paget University Hospital with a charity fun run, and is looking forward to taking part in this year’s event too.


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