Taxi rank rule 'putting jobs at risk'
Penalised: Tin Yan Tang A minicab company boss claims cabbies’ livelihoods are being put at risk because Colchester bus station has nowhere they can drop off passengers.
Christie Wettasinghe, of Hawaii Five-0 'taxis', says private hire drivers risk losing their licences if they stop on the Hackney carriage rank in Osborne Street.
The only alternative is to use a nearby loading bay, which often isn’t free.
Mr Wettasinghe said: “We can’t drop off legally by the bus station.
“There’s a rank for Hackney carriages, but the borough only has 131 Hackney carriages and more than 500 private hire vehicles. We need somewhere to load and unload passengers.
“Why doesn’t the council just recognise we have to drop people off there, too?”
After a recent incident, the council gave driver Tin Yan Tang six penalty points on his council cab driver’s licence because officials claimed he stopped at the taxi rank. Six more points and he would lose his licence.
Mr Wettasinghe said Mr Tang wasn’t unloading and had only stopped because he was stuck behind a van, waiting to get to the loading bay.
He added: “What are we supposed to do?
“He has to pass through the taxi rank to drop someone off and if someone is on there, then he has to wait.
“He has been driving taxis for many years and he was so upset.
“He was distraught. The council should be ashamed of itself.
“It seems it is picking on us.
We are providing a service to the public, but sometimes the council doesn’t recognise that.”
A council spokesman said: “Colchester bus station is a busy area, with a number of waiting restrictions to ease congestion.
“Should private hire vehicles feel that it is necessary, they can apply to the council to have the restrictions reviewed.”
The spokesmen suggested Mr Tang could appeal against the points, which would otherwise stay on his licence for a year.
http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.u ... 1762524._/
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