Taxi Driver Online

Your periodic article about the colour code in Hartlepool


Taxi drivers and residents speak out about bid to change taxi colours in Hartlepool

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/p ... ol-5372732


Image: Hartlepool Mail

Taxi drivers and members of the public have spoken out ahead of a licensing committee meeting that could lead to a change in colour of Hartlepool's yellow taxis.

Blueline Group bosses asked Hartlepool Borough Council to look into its private hire and hackney carriage licensing policy and the rules around car colour.

In a letter to the council, Blueline managing director Ian Shank raised concerns about the cost of painting hackney carriages using a “non-standard colour”.

Inam Hussein, who has been a taxi driver since 2012, said: “When we buy a car, if it’s black or white, we can buy it and don’t have to change it – as taxi drivers we do.

"Yellow doesn’t stay long either. Every few years it needs redoing.

“The minimum we pay is £400 for the yellow colour.

"When we buy a new car and have to paint it yellow, it’s heartbreaking.”

Yet not all taxi drivers support the proposal.

Andrew Sutherland, who has been a taxi driver for 20 years, said: “They are a recognisable colour. Anytime you see a yellow car you know it’s a hackney carriage.”

Lahin Ahmed, who has been a taxi driver for 11 years, said: "I don’t think they should change the colour. It’s been there for years and years."

The council’s current hackney carriage policy was recently subject to a formal consultation and republished in July 2025.

It states that all taxis “must be professionally painted or wrapped to a non-standard production shade of yellow.”

According to Mr Shanks, “wrapping or spraying vehicles to an acceptable industry standard now costs over £2,000, on top of the vehicle price”.

The Hartlepool Mail also spoke to members of the public about what they thought of the proposed changes.

Chris Howell, 38, said: “You see yellow cabs all over, ever since I was a kid, and I’m 38 now.

"It’s pointless changing the colours when everyone knows what they are.

"I have always known them to be yellow. Even before me, when my parents were brought up, they were yellow.

"If everyone is happy with it, why change it.”

Ellie Joy, 20, added: “It’s easier if they’re yellow when you’re waiting at home as you know when they’re coming because of their colour.”

Michael Fothergill, 81, agreed: “I don’t use taxis but people associate them with being yellow, like they are in America.”

Hartlepool Borough Council’s licensing committee will consider whether to start a consultation focusing on the borough’s policy and hackney carriage colour requirements at its meeting on Friday, October 24.

A similar consultation was also held in 2019, with councillors voting for taxis to remain yellow.

So does Blueline/Ian Shanks have a fleet of HCs in Hartlepool?

No.

Didn't someone make a song about them in the 10950's, The Yellow Rows of Taxis?

I think the trade benefits by having yellow cabs. Punters know what they can flag down, and what they can’t.

But is the £400 every few years the end of the world? If so there is a very simple solution.

Put 20p on each flag, then that will not only cover the cost of the respray, but the loss of earnings incurred whilst the driver is off the road.

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