Taxi Driver Online

A taxi firm has resorted to "scaremongering and downright lies" to drum up business, furious Worcester City Council staff claim.

Associated Taxis, based in Wyld's Lane, has been dishing out flyers under a "beware bogus taxi-drivers" headline, claiming the rise in attacks by unlicensed cabbies on young girls has dramatically risen in recent weeks - and that the city council "seems unable to stop" widely reported incidents of over-charging and assaults.

The leaflet has been branded "misleading and dangerous" by the council which is now demanding its immediate withdrawal and seeking legal advice.

Chairman of the council's licensing committee Coun David Clark, said any reports of over-charging or assaults would be directed straight to the licensing authority and none had been received.

"The leaflet deserves only to be put into the bin," he said.

The leaflet also refers to an Evening News Murder File feature from Saturday, September 11 "regarding a bogus taxi-driver attacking young girls".

The flyer goes on to claim that individuals posing as qualified drivers have managed to find work with local taxi companies using fake papers.

The city's environmental health manager Martin Gillies said he could not believe a local company could resort to such a "blatantly shoddy way" of drumming up business.

"In terms of complaints received from the public the past record of this particular firm and its drivers is no better than other operators licensed by the city council," he said.

The Evening News asked the manager of Associated Taxis, Ash Mahmood, if he could substantiate the claims on the flyer but he would not be drawn on specific examples.

But he stood by the claims, saying: "The public deserve the right to know about bogus taxi drivers".

good luck to him

the punters would turn to the council indeed!

not if you want anything done!

I dont know about that. The bloke is an idiot spreading the word that there are some bogus cab drivers.
Customers are thick they dont understand the inns and outs of the trade. The council should enforce not someone trying to gain work by scaring customers.
But if all these illegal cars are about why hasnt the council had any complaints. Or are these nice bogus cars?

these are very nice bogus cars.
best that were in the scrapyard.

The rest of the trade fight back.
http://www.thisisworcestershire.co.uk/w ... TEST6.html

And he is very sorry now.

WORCESTER: Called before council to explain Taxi man says sorry for leaflet

A TAXI firm owner has admitted it was a mistake to publish a leaflet claiming passengers were at risk in Worcester.

But Ash Mahmood maintained he still had concerns about the state of the city's taxis and had evidence to prove his fears.

Mr Mahmood, who runs Associated Taxis, was called before Worcester city councillors last night to explain his accusations. They ordered him to present his evidence by Monday morning or issue a formal apology.

At a meeting of the authority's licensing committee, Coun Simon Geraghty asked Mr Mahmood whether he accepted he had used the leaflet for advertising purposes and that it was unwise to publish it.

"With hindsight, it was a mistake - I apologise to you and in public," replied Mr Mahmood, who added that he was happy to offer his evidence to the council.

"We'll come and see you in private with what we have. It's not just something we have fabricated - we have something to say."

The meeting came after Mr Mahmood handed leaflets to students at University College Worcester in September that claimed there had been a "dramatic" rise in "bogus taxi drivers" attacking young girls.

The leaflet, which the council denounced as "misleading and dangerous", claimed that over-charging was rife, reports of assaults were on the increase, while promoting the service provided by Associated Taxis.

He admitted that he never lodged complaints with the council over allegations of over-charging or drivers using fake documents to secure a licence.

He maintained, however, that drivers from outside Worcester were operating taxis in the city.

The committee agreed that they would receive a report on Mr Mahmood's evidence by the end of next month.

What these pratts don't realise, the ones who specialise in scare-mongering, is that isn't doesn't make PH customers go HC, or HC go PH, but it does make customers find alternative ways home.

That way we all lose.

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IDFIMH