Taxi Driver Online

Cabbies caught on secret film

UNDERCOVER licensing officers posed as customers to catch minicab drivers plying for trade in Leeds.

The male and female officers were wired up with pinhole cameras and recording devices to catch the culprits as they illegally picked up customers.

It is illegal for private hire drivers to pick people up in the street – all their jobs must be pre-booked.

Over the last three weekends, 27 private hire drivers were found "flagging" for trade in the city centre.All had their licences suspended by the city council.

Some rogue drivers were even filmed parking on taxi ranks and stealing customers from hackney carriage drivers.

The film was shown to the Licensing and Regulatory Panel yesterday which approved a formal suspend and revoke policy.

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IDFIMH

Until they punish the drivers serverly, it will carry on happening.

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stressed controller!!!

What a bizzare headline, Sussex.

Licensing Officers enforcing the law, and protecting the public, and you think it is bad?

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Former taxi driver

You been drinking?

Who says I don't like enforcement?

My point was the touting situation in Leeds is nearly as bad as London.

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IDFIMH

Newport Gwent - back about 2 to 3 years ago caught 33 Newport P.H drivers in two stings - and never prosecuted or punished any

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Maybe if that action got the bad guys to change their ways, then court action didn't need to follow.

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IDFIMH

No it did not get them to change their ways, all it did was to give them the confidence to tell the Hacks to eff off when challenged. To then say to the Hack, report me if you want to because the L.O wont do eff all about it.

I could today take you to certain parts of Newport where P.H practically rank up, and they are right, the L.O will do nothing.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Well I would invite the chair of the licensing committee to spend a Sat night with you, then he could see what a shower of sh** his enforcement team are.

That said if you copied the invite to the LOs, then I'm quite sure things might change. Even if only for a month or so.

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IDFIMH

The Licensing Committee are well aware of the situation - it is they who pull the strings of the L.O. I have had dealings with them in the past and you would not believe as to how bent they are.

I took a solid overall complaint to the local Ombudsman, at the same time pointing out the above.

I had a pile of information sourced from the Councils own minutes, "Freedom of Info" basically damning them, but! the old boy network stretches a long way. As they say you cannot beat the system - unless you are prepared to go legal - and even then you are not necessarily going to win.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Surely your local press should be interested in such a public safety issue?

If at first they seem reluctant to look into the story then write a letter to their letters page under a different name saying that you are worried about all these un-licensed cars picking up at various places. Then send a reply from a taxi driver/association saying that the trade have been asking the council for years to sort it and they keep turning a blind eye.

Pester power chap, it works for me.

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IDFIMH

I no longer work Newport, But! I did go to the press on a number of topics. I gave them the story on a couple of subjects, unfortunately by the time they got to print they were so dumbed down I wondered why I had bothered.

It lead me to think that the funny hand shake gang were at work.Think about it - you get into power - letters of complaint come in - you either do not answer them or send replies back without answering pointed questions. You also have friends in the local press and the local Police are not interested because all they want is people off the streets.The Ombudsman office is a government department and will cover more than help.

That little exercise shuts down practically all your avenues, and local suppression reigns.

You have only to look at the Newport tariff and wonder why have they fallen so far down the table, it is not a major City but neither is it a sleepy village.

There is a load of suppression going on in that locality. The Council is Labour lead but with a mixture of other parties and you would think that it would be a fair democratic spread of parties, but when they are at work so much hand holding goes on you have got to see it to believe it.

We are told that we have democracy, and the word is "Told" but the reality is that we do not - we are told as to how we will live. As one politician said "If you think that your vote counted do you think they they would let you have it"!

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

I no longer work Newport, But! I did go to the press on a number of topics. I gave them the story on a couple of subjects, unfortunately by the time they got to print they were so dumbed down I wondered why I had bothered.

It lead me to think that the funny hand shake gang were at work.Think about it - you get into power - letters of complaint come in - you either do not answer them or send replies back without answering pointed questions. You also have friends in the local press and the local Police are not interested because all they want is people off the streets.The Ombudsman office is a government department and will cover more than help.

That little exercise shuts down practically all your avenues, and local suppression reigns.

You have only to look at the Newport tariff and wonder why have they fallen so far down the table, it is not a major City but neither is it a sleepy village.

There is a load of suppression going on in that locality. The Council is Labour lead but with a mixture of other parties and you would think that it would be a fair democratic spread of parties, but when they are at work so much hand holding goes on you have got to see it to believe it.

We are told that we have democracy, and the word is "Told" but the reality is that we do not - we are told as to how we will live. As one politician said "If you think that your vote counted do you think they they would let you have it"!

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Every chance.

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IDFIMH