Taxi Driver Online

Travel agent’s anger over ‘council red tape’
From the archive, first published Friday 25th Aug 2006.

A TRAVEL agent claims council red tape is losing him ten of thousands of pounds in business.

Paul Smith, owner of Quartz Travel in Heworth, York, had an application to have his company website address printed on the back of an eight-seater airport shuttle bus rejected by City of York Council.

Mr Smith said the decision is "backward" and means he will miss out on vital internet bookings.

He said he is "staggered" that different rules mean he is allowed to put the address on the side of a 14-seater minibus, but not his eight-seater.

"It's something to do with a quirk in the licensing laws for private hire vehicles that I can't advertise on the side, but it's ludicrous and means I'm losing tens of thousands of pounds worth of business.

"How can you expect a business to move forward and grow in today's competitive market if you don't let them move forward?"

A City of York Council spokesman said: "Mr Smith has a private hire licence for his eight-seater vehicle and council policy states that he can advertise on the back of it and on the bonnet.

"His 14-seater vehicle would be licensed by the Department for Transport, rather than the council, and that would explain why there may be a different policy relating to that.

"However, if Mr Smith has any concerns about the council policy of only allowing adverts on the front and back of the eight-seater, he is more than welcome to contact us in writing and we review that for him."