Police warning to students after suspicious incident in Cheltenham
Police in Cheltenham are reminding local students to make sure that they only use licensed taxis and to report any instances where they are offered a taxi ride in an unauthorised vehicle.
The advice follows a suspicious incident in Cheltenham over the weekend.
In the early hours of Saturday January 15, at around 2.45am, two female students were approached on the High Street by a man asking if they needed a taxi.
The woman declined as they had noticed the car wasn’t marked, and carried on their walk home.
At 3:05am the same man stopped in the middle of the road close to the Hardwicke Campus of the University of Gloucestershire and again asked the women if they needed a taxi.
They again declined and the man drove off.
The girls were able to make a note of the car’s license plates and officers have made a number of enquiries using the details but now believe the car may have been displaying false plates.
The man was described as white, with short dark hair and dark eyes. He was driving an unmarked black VW Passat or Toyota with a registration mark similar to RF56 RUB.
PCSO Ross Nicholl said: “These women did exactly the right thing and declined the man’s offer as they didn’t believe he was a licensed taxi driver. They also then reported the suspicious incident to the police. We are very grateful for this and urge other students to follow their example and to ensure that if they are using taxis to make sure that it is an authorised vehicle.”
An authorised vehicle will be endorsed with a taxi licence plate on the rear of the vehicle so that you know they are properly licensed. The plate displays a hologram to show authenticity. Officers also encourage the public to ask for identification from the driver before getting into the vehicle, a legitimate driver will not mind you doing this.
Police are asking anyone to report similar incidents or sightings of a car matching this description to them on 0845 090 1234, quoting incident number 51 of January 15.
You can also report information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
source:
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/
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