Taxi Driver Online

Aberdeen Press and Journal

March 24, 2007 Saturday

HEADLINE: Footballers quizzed over 'race attack'

Three footballers have been arrested over an alleged racist attack on a taxi driver. The Barnsley Football Club players were arrested as part of an investigation into a racist attack on a taxi driver in Sheffield, on March 7.

Officials at the South Yorkshire club said they could not comment on the arrests, but that no disciplinary action had so far been taken against the unnamed players. A taxi driver has claimed he was subjected to a racially-motivated assault by two of the players and that the third man racially abused him, before all three made off without paying the taxi fare.
_______________________________

Bristol Evening Post

March 24, 2007 Saturday

HEADLINE: Taxi defects spotted in safety blitz

Police have joined forces with other agencies in a crackdown on taxi safety in North Somerset.

Officers said yesterday that they had found defects on nearly 40 per cent of vehicles stopped and checked this week under Operation Tariff in Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon.

Nine of the 23 hackney cab and private-hire vehicles tested had faults affecting tyres, exhausts and brakes.

Officers also dealt with speeding, defective lights and drivers who were not using a seatbelt.

The number of vehicles with significant defects has increased since the last spot check in September 2006, when a third of the 25 vehicles tested were found to be defective.

Sergeant Jon Hext, of the road policing unit based in Weston-super-Mare, said: "It is important operators and drivers pay attention to the condition of their vehicles."
______________________________