JUST four months after council chiefs claimed that Southampton cabbies could all speak English, a tourism board is spending taxpayers’ cash to send foreign drivers back to the classroom.
As well as improving their language skills, cabbies also need to smarten up their dress and their knowledge of the city, tourism bosses say.
They are now paying for Afghan and Somali drivers to take a seven-week English language course.
Council chiefs were unaware of the new scheme, which throws doubts on their claims that all drivers are vetted to make sure that they speak a good standard of English.
Last year the authority brought in basic English skills tests alongside informal oral assessments. But Tourism South East (TSE) fears the poor English of some drivers is giving a bad impression of the city to visiting cruise passengers.
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