Taxi Driver Online

Not much detail here, and in the grand scheme of things reads like the lower end of offending in cases like this. But it's a classic of the genre of the firm disclaiming any responsibility because the driver is self-employed and/or it's the responsibility of the licensing council.

And a further nuance in that regard here - CCTV would help, but that's also up to the council

Reminds me of Uber's case for CCTV - they're all in favour, but it's really up the the councils and government. But, I mean, nothing to stop them mandating CCTV to sign up for Uber - I wonder how they don't do that, and instead take on thousands of drivers badged and plated via Wolves, thus without CCTV.

And no word about the driver's badge - presumably he's been suspended.

Anyway, the most bizarre name for an office I've ever seen


Taxi driver charged after 'acting inappropriately' towards teen girls

https://news.stv.tv/east-central/bathga ... teen-girls

The driver has also been sacked from his role by the taxi company after a complaint was made by a parent

A taxi driver has been charged by police and sacked from his job after “acting inappropriately” towards three teenage girls inside a vehicle in West Lothian.

Police were made aware of the incident, which occurred during a journey on Edinburgh Road in Bathgate, at around 10.30pm on Friday.

The man has been charged in connection with “acting in an inappropriate manner”.

He is due to appear in court at a later date.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 10.30pm on Friday, March 20, 2026, police received a report of a man acting in an inappropriate manner in the Edinburgh Road area of Bathgate.

“A man has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident and is due to appear in court at a later date.”

Taxi company, Home of the Set Fare, confirmed they were made aware of the incident by both Police Scotland and a concerned parent.

The driver was suspended before being removed permanently from his role.

A spokesperson from the taxi firm said: “We as a company are not responsible for issuing drivers with their licences, all private hire drivers are licenced by West Lothian Council. Police Scotland will liaise directly with West Lothian Council on this.

“Having now had the chance to discuss the concerns with the passenger’s parent, we discussed the use of CCTV in private hire vehicles and we both support this. We, as a company, believe this should, in fact, be a mandatory licensing condition for both passenger and driver safety.

“We continue to support the passengers and will ensure any information Police Scotland requires is provided as required.”

Not sure if that's its actual name - their marketing stuff certainly uses the phrase, but it seems to be called West Lothian Private Hire (or similar derivatives) in terms of internet domain names etc.

https://wlph.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/westlothiantaxis/?locale=en_GB

So Home of the Set Fare seems more like a marketing slogan rather than the actual name of the 'taxi company', but who knows?

It also seems to use an ECPH domain as an email address. Which I'd guess is Edinburgh City Private Hire, who presumably own this firm located 20 miles or so away.

It annoys me when operators suggest that the council mandate CCTV when they could do it tomorrow.

As for the driver, clearly something happened, and even if it was a mere misunderstanding, it shouldn't have happened.

Drivers need to drive and chat about the weather, or say nothing. Especially at night with a group of girls.

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IDFIMH