£1,215 fine over unlicensed taxi

A BARNOLDSWICK man was fined £1,215 after operating a private hire taxi without a licence or insurance. Mr Andrew Durkin (47), of Pickard Close, was the owner of Barnoldswick-based private hire firm Exclusive Travel since July, 2005, yet when his vehicle was stopped by police on Skipton Road, Foulridge, on November 30th last year, he was found to be without the relevant Pendle Council-issued operator's licence, vehicle licence and up-to-date insurance.

Mr Durkin pleaded guilty at Reedley Magistrates' Court to driving a private hire vehicle without a current drivers' licence, vehicle licence, operators' licence and insurance. He told the court he was no longer working as a private hire taxi driver, and apologised for his actions.

He said: "I knew I should have had the licences, but the business had started not to do as well as it had been, and it was another £500 I couldn't find - it's as simple as that really. "I'm not working as a taxi driver any more - I've gone back to working as an engineer."

Representing Pendle Council, Mr Peter Frost said the purpose of the licensing system was to "ensure the safety of passengers, and to ensure vehicles were safe and roadworthy and that the proper person is driving them."

He told the court that Exclusive Travel was still listed in the Thomson directory and Yellow Pages, and explained that Mr John Ingham had telephoned the company on November 7th asking to be picked up from the Old Stone Trough Inn, Kelbrook, to be taken to Manchester airport. Mr Durkin's black Vauxhall Transporter was stopped by police shortly after the pick-up in nearby Foulridge.