Yes, you read it right
Thought this looked like a slow news day piece rehashed from social media. But it quickly veers off into stuff about the driver shortage, and then reads more like advertorial
But it is Hull, so any excuse to shoehorn stuff about the driver shortage into an article
Taxi firm bans customers after they have Midget Gem fight in bus
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/lo ... er-6726042
Willerby Cars has reiterated its no food and drink policy after the incident - the customers are now banned
Image: Rich Addison/Hull Daily Mail
A Hull taxi firm has taken to social media to vent after a group of adult passengers who threw sweets in a vehicle leaving it a mess.
The passengers were picked up by Willerby Cars last night (Saturday, February 26) and had what is described as a Midget Gem fight in the back of the bus.
When challenged about their behaviour the passengers dismissed the driver, telling them they should be glad it isn't a kebab on the floor.
The firm reiterated the no food and drink policy for their vehicles and told the customers they were banned from using the service.
Willerby Cars said: "No food or drink to be consumed in any of our vehicles.
"Picked up some passengers last night (adults) who thought it appropriate to have a Midget Gem fight in the back of my bus.
"When asked to clear them up the response was 'it’s not as if it’s a kebab all over the floor driver'.
"Please have some consideration that our children have to travel in our vehicles and we don’t want to have to clear your mess up to enable a safe clean journey for the next customer.
"Consider yourself banned!"
Image: Rich Addison/Hull Daily Mail
Jon Wray of Willerby cars has been one of many to speak out about the pressures the private hire industry is facing at the moment with a battle to recruit new drivers post Covid-19.
He said new recruits were put off by the months' long process of getting taxi licences, with only around one in 10 applicants seeing it through.
He said taxi firms in both the East Riding and Hull are struggling to meet demand from people out at the weekend, causing some to be up to 40 minutes late.
Mr Wray said in January: "Getting new drivers is the battle at the moment.
"If you sit next to a taxi driver in their car and you ask the question most people ask, if they've been busy, they'll say it's rubbish at the moment.
"If you told them you wanted to become a taxi driver, they'd tell you not to bother.
"Of course that's partly because they don't want competition from new drivers but it's also because getting a licence is long-winded, it takes too long.
"It can take up to three months, applicants are told to do this and then this and then something else, it's not through any fault of theirs it's the process itself.
"For people who are out of work, they can't afford to wait three months, so they just go and get another job.
"We get enquiries all the time but we're lucky if 10 per cent actually make it through the process and get their licence."
