Leeds taxi row standstill may bring chaos to city streets
Taxis lined up on The Headrow
A TAXI standstill this weekend could cause chaos in Leeds City Centre as hundreds of hackney carriage drivers prepare to protest over a shortage of ranks for queuing cars.
A crunch meeting of taxi union bosses on Sunday could see a series of city centre go-slows organised in the coming weeks .
The drivers are angry about a lack of spaces in the city centre for the 537 hackney carriages licensed in Leeds.
They are also fuming about what they claim is "hounding and hassle" they have been receiving in recent weeks after the authorities clamped down on long queues of hackney carriages which were clogging up the city centre.
Paul Landau, who chairs the Unite Leeds Hackney Drivers Association, said: "We are meeting to decide if a series of demonstrations in the city will go ahead .
"(There is] constant hounding and hassle being applied to our members with regard to the Headrow rank.
"They are driving around trying to find a space in the city centre.
Disruption
"We want to let the public know about the likelihood of disruption in the coming weeks."
The crisis talks, planned for this Sunday, follow weeks of controversy over the scores of black and white Hackney carriages regularly parking up on key city routes waiting for work.
One queue often stretches along the Headrow causing problems for buses, leading to the recent police enforcement in the city centre, arranged by bus operator Metro.
Many drivers also want to use some bus stops as ranks at night after the last bus service has gone.
However, Mr Landau claimed that although the possibility of such a scheme had been on the table for several years, talks had always stalled.
He said the bus companies had been "reticent and reluctant" to take on board any constructive dialogue with drivers.
The glut of taxis in Leeds is believed to have been caused partly by the removal of a rank at Leeds Bradford Airport following the sell-off of the building and also by a lack of parking near the station for taxis waiting to pick up passengers.
Mr Landau also pointed out the size of the rank on the Headrow was inaccurate – it was designed for only 12 cars, yet signposted for 16, he said.
"Leeds has 537 hackney carriages and two thirds of them can be out at one time," he added.
"The drivers want to serve the station and they all pay a licence fee.
"But there's nowhere for these vehicles to go."
A spokesman for the council, responding to the queues chaos earlier this month, said: "The council provides numerous taxi ranks around the city and wider district for taxis to wait and the public to find them.
