Taxi Driver Online

Cab drivers' fury as police pull out of charity day Jun 22 2006




By Barry Gregory Daily Post Correspondent


TAXI drivers on Merseyside say they feel cheated by police who refused to provide an escort for a convoy taking disadvantaged children on a day out.

For the past 21 years, children in care have enjoyed an annual visit to Lancashire theme park Camelot, organised by cabbies.

Each taxi is dressed up and the drivers pull out all the stops to ensure the children have a great day out.

Motorcycle outriders from Merseyside Police have accompanied previous trips, with neighbouring forces taking over once the convoy reaches the force's boundary.

This year, however, all police forces withdrew the escort, leaving the convoy of up to 40 cabs to drive alone through heavy motorway traffic and delaying their arrival. The organisers claim they were only informed on the morning of the trip.

Spokesman for Liverpool Taxi Drivers Children in Care, Paul Azzopardi, said: "These kids really look forward to the Camelot day out and for the police to leave us without an escort after 21 years, we feel badly let down.

"The police are only too happy to ask for our help when an incident occurs and all we ask is for a little give and take."

The annual trip caters for children, ranging from babies to 17 year olds.

Taxi drivers from across Merseyside give up their own time and arrange fundraising events throughout the year to pay for the event.

Mr Azzopardi also said: "A lot of the kids we take to Camelot only ever encounter the police during bad times, such as their parents being take away. This is a chance

for the police to be seen in a favourable light. All we wanted was two or three outriders for one hour each way, but we were told it was too big a strain on their resources."

A police van was present at the starting point of the trip, and the force claimed yesterday that their involvement in previous years had been to assist in the organisation of the event and that the absence of an escort this year had not compromised safety.

Superintendent Carl Kreuger, of Merseyside Police, said: "We have assessed the risk and we are satisfied this is an event which uses competent drivers and follows recognised routes. All events entail a fine balance between assisting with a safe day out and an absolute need for police involvement."

I can imagine the police going out of there way for upmteen other type of processions, but it seems they don't give a f*** for children in care.

That's of course until they end up in the police's care, and then the police blame society for their woes.

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IDFIMH