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HACKED OFF
Striking taxi drivers who left hundreds of late-night revellers stranded in Bristol city centre could take further action. Hackney carriage drivers went on strike from midnight on Saturday to 6am yesterday
It is thought as many as nine out 10 cabbies due to work - more than 250 drivers - took part in the six-hour strike. They took action in response to a series of new licensing regulations introduced by Bristol City Council earlier this month.
Bristol City Council is considering a number of measures, including making drivers in the city's 712-strong hackney fleet respray their cabs in "Bristol blue" within the next three years at their own expense.
The council says it also wants to restrict advertising on vehicles and impose a 10-year life span on them. Cabbies say the colour switch would cost them an average of £2,500 per car, a total bill of £1.8 million, and feel three years is not enough time to make the changes.
There are usually 300 taxi drivers working on a Saturday night but only a handful picked up passengers in the city centre during the strike, which did not draw much public support. Young women, in particular, objected to the action saying it made it dangerous for them to get home late at night.
Chief Inspector Rob Dean, of the Bristol Community Safety team, had advised people to pre-plan their return journeys or consider going home before the strike began. But many people out on the Centre on Saturday night had not heard about the action.
The council had eight night buses running on Saturday, more than usual, going to Southmead, Fishponds, Kingswood, Stockwood, Whitchurch, Hartcliffe, Avonmouth and Henbury.
Taxi Club Association member Shafiq Ahmed said the number of drivers who took part in the strike exceeded expectations. He said: "We were expecting 80 per cent of drivers not to work. Only a handful were working on Saturday night which shows the strength of feeling.
"The last Saturday of the month is our busiest night of the month. "We haven't just decided to give up our most profitable night for the fun of it. It shows how much anger there is in the trade. "We are not against what the council wants, we just think there is a better way to do it.
"Rather than a special shade of blue we are asking that the council simply specifies navy blue. Most manufacturers sell navy cars and then drivers wouldn't have to have cars specially resprayed."
He said the drivers were considering a number of options with the possibility of demonstrations or even more strikes. He said: "We are going to see what the response is from the council. The ball is in their court now."
The Transport and General Workers' Union called the strike on Thursday, with the support of the Taxi Club Association and some non-union drivers. The queues began shortly after midnight at the taxi rank on the south side of Colston Avenue, opposite La Tasca restaurant.
Around 20 to 30 people began waiting patiently, but word soon spread about the strike. During the next three hours there were fewer than half a dozen pick-ups from the rank, a number by the same driver.
There was little support for the drivers' cause. University student Ella Neath, of Downend, said: "I bet they're all sitting at home with a nice cup of tea. They don't deserve our business, and they charge high rates."
Her friend Jenny Barry agreed: "This is absolutely ridiculous, it's just diabolical." The pair were in the queue for two hours before one of the drivers on strike arranged for a vehicle to pick them up around the corner.
A 19-year-old woman from Hartcliffe, who did not wish to be named, waited more than an hour and a half to get a cab home. She said: "All this because they don't want to paint their taxis blue, whatever they have to pay. "I'm here on my own. If something happens to one of these girls in the queue because they had to walk home, it's their fault."
The teenager was eventually picked up by one of the few hackney carriages seen operating in the centre, but the vehicle was jeered by around 30 striking taxi drivers who had gathered opposite the rank.
Other strikers spent the evening driving around the Cenotaph in private vehicles, to toot their support and keep an eye on what was happening. One driver filmed strike breakers who were taking fares.
Tension started to rise when a group of cabbies was shouted at by frustrated people waiting in the queue, with chants like "Get a better job if you want more money" and "Bristol blue". When one man started hurling abuse over the road, swearing at the drivers and telling them to get back in their taxis, the group moved on to avoid confrontation.
Colin James, 46, of Long Ashton, was furious about the situation. He said: "I think this is absolutely atrocious. We're being persecuted because these guys don't want their cabs to be painted some colour. "I've been trying to get a taxi home for two hours, normally it would take me 10 minutes. "It's a three-mile walk to Long Ashton but I've got no choice. "I came out tonight not knowing about the strike."
Katie Bird, 18, of Highbridge, was one of a group of friends who by 1.30am had been waiting half an hour at the Broad Quay bus stop. She said: "I'm gutted they are on strike, I could have been going home by now. "I never normally catch the bus. I feel much safer in a taxi and would have preferred to have taken one of those."
A team of taxi marshals act as security at the two main taxi ranks in the centre every Friday and Saturday night. Normally they have three people on duty between midnight and 6am, but on Saturday they increased that to five. They also gave out advice to people about the night buses, advising which service was best for them.
At around 2am a couple and their friend flagged down a private hire vehicle near the Centre in Colston Avenue, and spent 10 minutes trying to convince the driver to take them home. The driver refused and eventually drove off.
After 2am the streets became busy with people leaving nightclubs but the queue at the taxi rank began to dwindle. Queues for the night buses increased and many frustrated people were seen calling private hire companies in a bid to get home.
Yesterday, a private hire firm told The Post the strike had increased their business, but it may not have been the best timed protest for the hackney drivers. John Morgan, of Bristol Taxi Co, said: "I don't think it made a lot of difference as the strike was between midnight and 6am.
"Most hackney carriage drivers earn their living from the daytime and pick-ups from the train station. "If it had been 24 hours it might have been different. "We were a lot more busy than normal, we had a lot more advance bookings."
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