Edinburgh City Council's forthcoming vote on allowing 'alternative' taxis in Scotland's capital may mean another feather in the cap of Cab Direct.

Cab Direct (Allied Vehicles), manufacturer of the E7 'alternative taxi, looks poised to have its vehicles approved for use as a taxi in Scotland's capital following a recommendation by Edinburgh City Council's regulatory committee.  The committee's decision will be considered by the council's executive later this month.

Allied had threatened the council with legal action after its vehicles had been approved by hundreds of other UK local authorities.  Edinburgh's current stringent conditions of fitness mean that London Taxis International, manufacturer of the traditional 'black cab', enjoys an effective monopoly on the supply of vehicles to the city's taxi trade.  Allied's E7 cost around 20% less to buy new than LTI's TX2 and also boasts significant better fuel consumption.

The move follows Allied's threat of legal action against London black cab regulator the Public Carriage Office, which was forced into a U-turn on its 2003 review of the Metropolitan Conditions of Fitness that recommended the retention of the stringent turning circle, thus precluding the licensing of Allied's vehicles and those supplied by other vehicle converters such as Jubilee Automotive Group and Voyager MPV.  Transport for London is currently undertaking a 'review of the review'.

Last year the Office of Fair Trading's report on UK taxi regulation was critical of the restrictions imposed by the MCoF and similar taxi licensing requirements.  It said:  "Only certain models of vehicle currently meet these requirements.  These are significantly more expensive than the saloon cars and wheelchair accessible vehicles allowed by many LAs.  There is a danger that the additional cost of MCoF compliant vehicles may raise prices and deter entry to the market thus limiting supply and leading to a poorer service for consumers."

But Edinburgh trade representative group CABforce accused the city council of double standards since the rules were being relaxed to accommodate Allied, whereas ageing Fairway cabs were being phased out because of a tightening of the rules to comply with European Union regulations.

Allied Vehicles had already been celebrating a week before the Edinburgh move following the manufacturer's winning of a £1 million contract to supply 40 cabs to the island paradise of Bermuda.  The company is currently producing 120 vehicles a month from its plant in Possilpark, Glasgow.

Jim Wallace, Scotland's Deputy First Minister, praised Allied as "an excellent example of Scottish entrepreneurism".

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