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TAXI drivers say their livelihoods have been put at risk because council chiefs are handing out too many new licences.Hackney Carriage drivers claim licence values plummeted from £35,000 to £5,000 in just a year - ever since Basildon Council scrapped restrictions on the number of licences.
Dave Neville, secretary of the Basildon Taxi Proprietors Association, said he felt the council had mismanaged the situation.He said: "We've spoken to the licensing committee, and they don't do anything about it."They don't have any understanding of what it's like to be a taxi driver."
The situation started when a report by the Office of Fair Trading recommended licensing authorities remove the restrictions on Hackney Carriages.
But drivers say the change has flooded the market and there is not enough work available.
Mr Neville, who has been a cabbie since 1980, said: "What the council don't realise is that when you sell off your licence plate, it's not like you're just selling a car - you're selling your selling your business.
"Now that they've allowed all these new cabs, there just isn't the market, and that means that we're set to lose out."
The 59-year-old grandfather added: "We're getting young guys, who have a family and a mortgage, having to work more than 15 hours a day, and that's wrong."
The Association's chairman, Alan Isley, said he felt that the council had let drivers down, adding: "We've got the lowest fares in Essex, and we're all worried.
"They should at least introduce a cap on new plates, but I don't think they will."
Another Basildon based driver, who did not want to be named, said: "It's terrible, I bought my plate as a pension, and now the council have made it worthless. I just don't see why there was any need to have so many new licences, we weren't that busy in the first place."
The chairman of the licensing committee said it was right for the council to scrap the restrictions.
Cllr David Dadds (Conservative, Billericay East) said: "I can understand some people are facing difficulties, but you have to let market forces do their work - we have to make sure cabs are safe, and we have to make sure people are receiving a good service, but if someone's carrying out a legitimate business, we can't restrict that. We can't say how many fruit and veg shops there should be in the town centre, we can't say how many clothes shops there are, market forces will find the equilibrium."
The lawyer added if any cabbies were having problems, the council would help them, and he felt that the district had a high number of private hire cabs.
He said: "We'll try to help them, but we do need to leave the number of cabs to the market.
"If drivers are finding it hard, they can change their working practices."
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