Taxi Driver Online

Cover-up claim after bankrupt firm won taxi marshal service

Police and Moray council are trying to hide blunder, says security guard


Grampian Police and Moray Council were accused last night of trying to “cover up” a blunder that led to a bankrupt security guard winning a contract to marshal a taxi rank.

Steve Robertson, who is also a security guard, claimed the authorities do not want to take action against the other man because that would mean admitting they had made a mistake.

The authorities have said they investigated the matter but no fraud had been committed. Mr Robertson is demanding they reopen the investigation.

The situation came to light last year when Mr Robertson’s bid to run a joint police and council taxi marshalling scheme was lost when Elgin firm DS Security submitted a lower tender. It later emerged that DS Security had ceased trading in January, 2009 – a month before it bid for the contract.

The owner was declared bankrupt in August, with a debt of £6,000 to the council. It is not clear what this debt was for.

Documents obtained from Grampian Police using freedom of information legislation revealed that the firm had not supplied a trading address when it bid for the contract in February, 2009.

The documents also revealed that the police did not discover DS Security had folded until June and that, despite this, the firm continued to run the rank until July 15. The police subsequently claimed that information was given in error and the firm did not operate the rank at all over the summer. However, the Press and Journal has a copy of an e-mail dating from June in which a police officer confirmed the firm had won the contract.

In recent correspondence to Mr Robertson, Moray Council said the investigation into the matter had concluded and no fraud had been committed by DS Securities.

Last night, Mr Robertson, who holds the contract to run the taxi marshalling service, said he called for the investigation to be reopened.

He added: “The council are trying to sweep this under the carpet. If they had done their job in the first place this situation would not have happened.”

Yesterday, Moray Council said Mr Robertson’s complaint was the subject of inquiries, while a Grampian Police spokesman confirmed they had received a letter from “a member of the public in connection with taxi marshal services in Elgin”.



Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0em3vQiQL

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