Taxi Driver Online

Leicester Mercury

July 7, 2007 Saturday

Angry cabbies strike over taxi rank changes

More than 40 Hackney cab drivers went on strike last night in protest at changes to a taxi rank.

They said problems had increased around the Haymarket shopping centre after the pedestrianisation of Leicester's High Street, which meant bus stops had moved and a one-way system was introduced.

There are 15 spaces at the Haymarket rank and 318 registered hackney cab drivers in the city.

Jagtar Singh, 45, from Evington, was issued with a parking ticket as he waited in Church Gate for a space.

He said another driver behind him did not receive a ticket.

Mr Singh said: "I was waiting for the next cab to pull out of the rank. I was there a few seconds.

"I could understand it more if everyone got a ticket, but the person behind me did not."

One driver, who did not wish to be named, said: "We want a fair deal. We had to pay out £34,000 to have new Hackney carriages.

"We have very few spaces to stop in and are being given tickets if we stop for a second."

Leicester City Council said it was looking into the situation.

A spokesman said: "There are a limited numbers of spaces available for parking in Church Gate.

"We will be happy to look again at the balance of spaces which is available for both these sets of essential users.

"However, we will enforce parking restrictions where necessary to ensure that the spaces available are being used correctly."
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