..IN THE
NEWS...IN THE NEWS
TAXI DRIVERS AT RISK OF LOSING LICENCE OVER ILLEGAL PARKING INWORCESTER RANKS
The council has stepped up its pur- suit of taxi drivers parking illegally in the city centre as the problem of over- ranking continues. According to the Worcester News, Worcestershire Reg- ulatory
Services
(WRS), which han- dles taxi licensing on behalf of Worces- ter City Council and the rest of the coun- ty, has continued handing out penalty points to drivers for breaking parking regulations
and
waiting outside of designated ranks. A city council bye- law means taxi dri- vers who park out-
side of a designated taxi rank and do not move to an empty one could be fined up to £500 and handed four penalty points. Taxi drivers in the city are at risk of losing their licence if they are caught more than four times in two years. A taxi driver who picks up more than 15 points within two years would be forced to meet with the council’s licens- ing committee mean- ing the licence could be revoked. However, a driver’s total penal- ty points are wiped after two years. Mohammad Sajad, from Worcester Taxi
we sent a taxi driver on a re-education course to make sure he was aware of pol- icy. Drivers do say there is not enough space to park and I understand
their Taxi rank in Foregate Street
Drivers Association (WTDA), said Fore- gate Street was a “mess” and over- ranking was caused by too many taxi licences being hand- ed out by councils outside of the city and the council needed to carry out more enforcement. The issue of illegal parking and over-
ranking has been discussed several times by the associ- ation and licensing bosses at WRS. Cllr Richard Udall, chairman of council’s
the licensing
committee, said: “We are very strict on this issue and we would be prepared to take action against dri- vers. Only recently
frustration. It is a nuisance and it is a problem for cus- tomers and other drivers but we are working towards a solution that works for the public and for the taxi industry.” NPHTA comment: This a classic example of the need for a site visit – in this case to Foregate Street, in- volving the trade, the licensing officers, members of
the licensing committee,
the police, and a member from High- ways (who usually oversees rank provi- sion in a lot of cities). Would it not be pos- sible to set up a feeder rank in close proximity so that taxis waiting to go onto the main rank would not be break- ing any parking regulations. Also, the WTDA rep says that over-ranking is being caused by “too many taxi licences being handed out by coun- cils outside of the city…” Those out-of- area taxis are com- mitting an offence if they sit on Worces- ter’s ranks, so this is an enforcement issue.
OCTOBER 2019
29
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