Taxi road block causes chaos in Reddditch
4:02pm Tuesday 24th May 2011
Chaos was brought to the centre of Redditch on Saturday as embittered taxi drivers blocked the roads over increased vehicle testing costs.
The town centre was brought to a virtual standstill as drivers started a rolling road block from the back of Redditch Town Hall to Unicorn Hill.
Buses were blocked, an ambulance had to use its sirens to get through and a mother struggled to get a prescription for her terminally ill daughter.
A former taxi owner who didn’t want to be named, who was caught up in the road block, said that the town was in turmoil.
“On two occasions I saw a taxi driver stepping out in front of a bus and refusing to allow it to move as well as a taxi driver ranting a foul mouthed tirade of abuse to an innocent bus driver,” he said.
“Having previously worked in the taxi trade in this town, I know that the council has been trying for many years to raise the standard of taxis here but every move has been met with stiff resistance.”
The road block, organised by Redditch Taxi Association, was in protest against Redditch Council making it mandatory to have safety tests carried out by the council itself instead of two approved centres.
According to the taxi association this will mean a rise in costs of 300 per cent, something drivers can’t afford.
Safder Hussain, chairman of the Redditch Taxi Association, said that he would like to thank the customers who supported the drivers during this action.
“It was very unfortunate that it had to happen and we hope we don’t have to do this sort of thing again,” he said.
“We feel however that we were pushed to take this action and simply had no other choice.
“We were only doing it because we don’t want people to suffer for the mistakes made by Redditch Council.”
Portfolio holder for community safety councillor Juliet Brunner said: “We completely understand that the taxi drivers will have their own concerns, which is why we are in formal consultation with them over the proposed fees.
“However, we cannot compromise on safety, and repeat that the decision to bring in robust and trustworthy new safety inspections to replace the old failing ones is not up for debate.”
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