one of our local stations in our borough used to have a taxi office at the station, but recently have moved out and relocated some 2 miles away, there are bays on station forecourt marked taxis but no signage stating no waiting except taxis etc, private hire company that usec to reside there say they have the rights to the bays, council say its private property and anyone else except the private hire co are touting any one know where hacks stand with regards to this matter

one of our local stations in our borough used to have a taxi office at the station, but recently have moved out and relocated some 2 miles away, there are bays on station forecourt marked taxis but no signage stating no waiting except taxis etc, private hire company that usec to reside there say they have the rights to the bays, council say its private property and anyone else except the private hire co are touting any one know where hacks stand with regards to this matter

From memory, & I have not investigated to refresh my memory, & I am quoting what I believe to be the law in England & Wales (you're in Scotland I believe, so it may be different) a railway forecourt IS private property of the Railway Company. BUT & it's a big BUT under one of the Railway Acts, I believe in the 1920's, any road, thouroughfare, square etc, etc on Railway property is deemed to be a 'street' for the purposes of the Town Police Clauses 1847.

The net effect of that is that only a Hackney Carriage, LICENSED IN THE AREA IN WHICH THE STATION IS LOCATED, can lawfully stand & ply for hire within the railway stations premises / area, eventhough it is PRIVATE PROPERTY. I will find the correct Railway Act for you asap.

If the same Act applies north of the border, & that's for you to find out if I can't 'nail it down' conclusively for you, then your council are talking b*ll*cks, But then if the Act does not apply in Scotland, they may well be correct.

I will investigate for you.

I thought Grays was in Middlesex?

CC

I think this case is the best example of the private land issue.
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2000/410.html

When the problem started at fat sams central the council said it was private land we showed them the eastbourne case and proved that it was not private land .They then moved the goal posts by saying this was English law.We then sent them a guidance report from the lawyer for Edinburgh council on illegally plying for hire in it he says
"The above cases are all decisions of the High Court of England. The Council Solicitor is of the view that they would be very persuasive for any Scottish court considering the issue".
They have moved the goal post again by saying that block bookings may be legal and have used the Blackpool case to back up there argument. They say that because the judge in that case said that block bookings MAY be legal that they are happy to allow it to continue.

We have told them that Blackpool council won there case but they are not interested.We have also made an enquiry to Blackpool council to see if they would allow us to set up the same situation as fatsams central.Below is there response.

Hello Mr Stationtone

Firstly the Blacktax decision was overturned on appeal by the Council - which we won.

To comply with the legal requirements of a Private Hire Operator all journeys and customers must be recorded. You could take a block booking from a venue provided the venue had a record of the passengers and where they were going. Someone has to be able to tie every journey to a named passenger.

At the end of the day you, as the Operator, are the person who stands to lose everything by non - compliance, NOT the venue, so be very careful. There are no shortcuts.

Please remember that you need premises, planning permission for those premises even if its your home, public liability insurance ( even if its your home) .

Any queries please ring me directly.

Ted Rhodes

Senior Licensing Officer

I have pestered my councilor and MP,MSP about this and all have said they will look into this but from what i have heard the chief licensing officer is not going to discuss this any further .The Bxstard

Thanks Brummie since i started posting on the forum i have been very interested in case law involving the taxi trade.The best bit of advice i got from the late JD was to read and read again till you understand what has been written. Sadly it dose not matter how many times i read some of the cases i still don't understand .It was the late JD or Sussex that made me aware of the button on taxi book and i really should invest in it .My only worry is that it becomes an obsession rather than an interest.

I certainly have plenty of that up hear.Just read war and peace over the weekend