Taxi Driver Online

Yorkshire Evening Post

March 7, 2007

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.
__________________________________-