Taxi drivers who fear for their safety at work
http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk/news/46 ... y_at_work/
IMAGINE going to work every day in fear that one of your customers could attack you for your wages.
That is how taxi drivers in Warrington are feeling as more of them are coming under attack while simply doing their job.
Now they are calling on Warrington Borough Council to help them by part funding CCTV equipment in the town’s 156 Hackney cabs to offer more protection to drivers and passengers.
Steve Harper, chairman of Warrington Taxi Drivers Association, said: “We are just trying to say to the council who can we turn to for the money to keep the taxi drivers safe? The council said it will see what it can do.
“It’s going to take someone being murdered in their taxi to make the council act.”
In September a driver was robbed by three men in Cinnamon Brow who pulled him out of his car then ran off with a mobile phone and cash.
Another was robbed at knifepoint for his takings by three men in Latchford in August.
“A private hire cab customer will be traceable so the drivers get a bit of help but on the Hackneys we are picking up people off the streets,” added Mr Harper.
“There is a national problem of taxi drivers being attacked. The third most likely person to be attacked is a taxi driver.
“I got attacked a couple of years ago. Some guy tried to rob me with CS gas. I took him to the police station and he got sent down for 18 months. Most drivers can give you stories like that.
“It also has an effect on your family. My son asked me to stop working as a taxi driver after my attack. We should not have to go to work fearing what is to come.”
David Boyer, head of sustainable transportation at the council, said: “We take these reported attacks on taxi drivers in the town very seriously and are willing to meet with representatives of the taxi trade in the near future to explore how CCTV could be installed in cabs/vehicles and discuss other best practice methods of protection.”
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