Taxi Driver Online

Durham taxi changes have 'created a monster' - cabbies

COUNCIL-imposed changes which have led to taxis flooding a city centre until the early hours have ‘created a monster’, cabbies have claimed. Durham County Council deregulated the taxi trade, allowing unlimited numbers of vehicles to operate in the city centre, from September 1 - despite cabbies’ leaders warning chaos would ensue.

Residents of Claypath, in Durham, say their lives are being ruined by huge numbers of taxis queuing until the early hours. With many pubs and clubs staying open until 2am and takeaways serving until 3am, it is often 4am before the area is cleared and quiet restored. Now drivers have said they have every sympathy with the residents but the council is to blame.

Adrian Fets, chairman of Durham Independent Taxi Association, said: "They’ve created a monster and it’s out of control. "I’ve every sympathy with residents. This isn’t our fault. "It’s the council and the councillors - I hope the residents remember that at election time."

Mr Fets, of STL Cabs, and Steve Pratt, of Pratts Taxis, said at peak times on weekends ‘hundreds’ of taxis could often be found queuing up Claypath and beyond Gilesgate roundabout, into a car park belonging to Durham University’s St Hild and St Bede College. This was causing unwanted noise for residents, pollution in an Air Quality Management area and widespread breaches of traffic laws, they said.

An extra night-time taxi rank on Freeman’s Place was not being used by passengers due to safety concerns and changes to the Market Place cost 25 spaces there, they added. Drivers coming into Durham have limited knowledge of the area and, meanwhile, passengers in outlying villages are being left without a proper taxi service as firms abandon their traditional areas for the city, they said. Firms are having to cut jobs and could go out of business, Mr Fets warned.

Cabbies’ leaders have been invited to discuss their concerns at a meeting with Durham County Council officials and police in Chester-le-Street next week. A Durham County Council spokesman said it was natural, following any changes, that there would be issues which needed to be addressed and it would continue to work with residents and others to resolve them.

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IDFIMH

After reading this tale of woe I am of the opinion that the only monster to have been created is of the Green-Eyed, Two Headed variety, a rare species known as a "Fets-Pratt".
They obviously want all of the work in Durham for their own companies without any "outside" interference.
All of their vehicles are obviously emission-free and their drivers do not create a sound or commit any traffic offences or parking violations.
If there are "hundreds" of taxis and the area is not being cleared until after 4am, then basic mathematical theory must mean that there are thousands of people wanting to go home so perhaps a few hundred more taxis are required. There is more demand for taxis in Durham City than ever before. Gone are the days when the only people out at night were students, poor little rich kids sitting with a half of real ale and a bag of crisps between six of them, all wearing the clothes of their deceased elderly relatives No, For a while now Durham has been on the up and up, more clubs, bars and restaurants, even a huge theatre, all in the Claypath area.
Of course, any customer who is loyal to their own chosen taxi/ph company will book them to take them there and pick them up so the choice is theirs.
Finally, Messrs Fets and Pratt should be thankful there are so many Durham plated Hackney Carriages working from Private Hire offices in Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and many more areas. If these were all chased back to Durham there would be even more drivers threatening their monopoly.

If Mr Pratt could be more specific about how many hundred taxis are queuing in Durham then I might start to believe him.

And I suspect the residents' complaints have more to do with the late opening of pubs and takeaways rather than taxis per se.

More taxis tend to help clear the dross off the streets.

I suspect the truth lies somewhere inbetween although our situation here with up to 60 taxis queueing on a thursday friday night has brought about howls of complaint petitions and threats of a police clampdown on overranking etc etc might be round the corner but not yet

It generally takes a couple of years for the numbers to build up so messeers. Fets and Pratt can probably look forward to a doubling of taxi numbers over the next 2 years numbers here have not stopped rising and on a friday night often cars queue from 11pm to 2am and may only get a single fare out of the nightclub som if he thinks its bad now just wait and see !

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Nail on the head well said..

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

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