Taxi Driver Online

Courses for Burnley cabbies up for discussion




CONTROVERSIAL plans to introduce customer courtesy courses for cabbies in Burnley and Padiham will be placed under the microscope again this week.

Cabbies are being told that they must undertake a BTEC taxi drivers course by October 2011 or risk losing their badges.

New hackney carriage and private hire drivers, for the first time in a decade, will also be required to pass a 'knowledge' test of the borough's landmarks and road layout, at a cost of £15 per time.

Licensing chiefs had previously insisted that drivers would need to undergo the BTEC course at Runshaw College in Chorley, at a cost of £150 each.

Now town hall officers say that taxi training consultanc firm, CAB Business Solutions, can offer the course for free, using central government funding.

Councillors will discuss the BTEC course's introduction, alongside a proposed new testing manual for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles, at a town hall licensing committee meeting on Thursday.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin