Taxi Driver Online

Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph

September 13, 2007 Thursday

Call to patrol town centre taxi ranks

Marshals are needed to oversee town centre taxi ranks to prevent an accident, it has been claimed.

Treasurer of the 180-strong North Lincolnshire Private Hire and Taxi Association, cabbie Javed Akter (43) claims someone will be seriously hurt if action is not taken to supervise ranks at the weekends.

And he says they have become dangerous to operate because of the overspill of smokers on the streets since the July 1 ban.

Mr Akter, who has run Ocean Taxis for 13 years, said: "We need marshals on the ranks at night on Fridays and Saturdays to supervise operations.

"The problems get worse when smokers line the pavements alongside the queues of people wanting to get in the town centre nightspots late at night."

He said he was planning to raise his concerns with local licensing watchdogs and the police.

"People are filtering onto the ranks and even sitting down on the kerbside, making it difficult for the taxis to move along," he said.

"Sooner or later someone is going to get run over but the authorities appear to be turning a blind eye to the problems, despite our requests for help."

Mr Akter said he and fellow operators paid enough in licence fees to use the council-provided taxi ranks and could not be expected to pay for the marshals.

Nick Bramhill, from North Lincolnshire Council's licensing department, said the issue was 'far more complicated'.

"We have a number of ranks in various areas and to hire marshals would be quite expensive," he said.

Mr Bramhill estimated the cost of hiring marshals to be up to £30,000 a year.

He added: "It is also a question of which ranks would be marshalled and are the taxis going to use the rank, or are they going to park on double yellow lines?"

Ian Charles (47), landlord at the Crosby Hotel, said he did not have sympathy for taxi drivers - and said they should pay for stewards themselves.

He said: "I can see their point of view, but the overspill of smokers is just the way it is at the moment.

"We don't have a problem here because we have plenty of space around the pub for smokers.

"We pay our rates and still have to pay for security, so it should be the same for the taxi companies.

"I did not support the licensing legislation when it came in but people have to just get on with it."

Chief Supt David Hilditch, police operational commander for North Lincolnshire, said he had not yet been contacted about it, but felt supervising the taxi ranks late at night was a matter of common sense.

"The problem would appear to be one the existing NiteSafe patrols could help with," he said.

"However, through the columns of the Scunthorpe Telegraph I would ask the people this applies to, to avoid getting in the way of the taxi ranks and putting their safety at risk.

"It could be common sense really."
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