Your carriage awaits! Darren Lees granted first horse-drawn hackney carriage licence in 100 years 
Kirklees Council had to put new policy in place for farmer's novel business venture
Now here’s a taxi with real horsepower!
But this one is likely to prefer being rewarded with apples instead of cash.
A 10-year-old named Paddy is the star attraction of a transport venture that is the first of its kind in Kirklees for a century.
His owner Darren Lees is believed to be the first to apply for a horse-drawn hackney carriage licence in at least 100 years.
And his novel business venture left council chiefs so stumped that they had to create a whole new licensing policy.
Owner Darren, a farmer who has looked after horses all his life, was looking for a new money-making idea for the quieter periods on his farm.
He said: “I’ve worked with horses all my life and used them on the farm.
“I love working with them and I was shaking my head wondering what I could do next.
“We did a few weddings and then I would get people coming up to me for anniversaries and asking me to take their grandparents out for a treat.
“I thought it was something different and something you don’t see as much as you used to so I decided to go for the licence.”
Darren contacted Kirklees Council’s licensing department about operating a horse-drawn carriage, which are licensed as hackney carriages or taxis.
He said: “I decided to contact Kirklees and put this thing to them.
“They were a bit stumped and didn’t know what to do.
“I went up there thinking there must have been somebody who used to do it.
“But they had to put a full, new policy in place and this took about 12 months.”
Darren was in fact told that he was the first in 100 years to apply for a horse-drawn licence since the last one was issued.
He joked he then had to “jump through fire” to be granted the licence but praised the authority for fully backing his application.
Darren had to undergo a road driving assessment and get his horses as well as his newly-built carriage complete with a modern breaking system checked.
He is now on the road and his business venture - also run with his wife Kelly - is now well underway.
Darren, who looks after several horses at Rising Sun Farm in Cartworth Moor, has long been passionate about horses thanks to his grandfather Harold Tinker-Lees.
He used working horses on his farm in Hade Edge and Daren has followed in his footsteps.
As well having Paddy, a Vanna Cob, as a foal he also owns Maggie, a Suffolk Punch-cross, and driving horses Taylor and Bruno.
Paddy has now provided rides to Greenhead Park visitors and gained dozens of new fans at this weekend’s wartime event in Holmfirth.
Darren said: “I’m just going to plod away and see how it goes - I can do this through the summer and then the farming through the winter.
“Paddy really enjoys it. He stands there banging at the gates to get out!”
source:
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yor ... s-10003391
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