towag wrote:
Before 1976 I get the impression that PRIVATE hire was originally PIRATE hire as they were unlicensed..... Councils and the law up and down the country found it too difficult to catch and prosecute them so legalized it instead......
Just for the record, Brighton licensed PH in 1966, thanks mainly to the main HC company(Brighton Streamline) becoming concerned about the amount and quality of our cars (The then "Southern Taxis"), so the council licensed PH, some 10yrs before the MP Act, most other LA's then gradually followed Brighton's lead , even the PM Act is pretty much as Brighton had already done! and as we know the rest is history!!