Taxi Driver Online

Waterlooville minicab firm faces a hefty bill after attack by vandals


DAMAGE Andicars transport manager Mike Voller with a damaged minicab.


A minicab firm has been left with a £15,000 bill after vandals poured paint stripper over five of its new cars.

Staff at Andicars, in Waterlooville, say it would put a strain on the business if a similar attack happened again.

The Hyundai vehicles were parked at a car park near The Pallant, Havant, [edited by admin] Road, Waterlooville, and in Cosham, Portsmouth, when they were vandalised.

The drivers who rent them discovered what had happened when they went to start work on Wednesday morning.

Doug Anderson, sales and marketing manager for Andicars, said he believed the attacks were planned.

‘The drivers of the cars got up in the morning to go to work and then realised they had been damaged,’ he said.

‘We are absolutely furious.

‘This feels like an organised crime against us.

‘You can tell that we have been targeted.

‘We believe that someone is trying to sabotage our business.

‘We are prepared to offer a substantial reward to the person who can come forward with information which will lead to someone being convicted.

‘If these attacks carry on it would cause us serious operational problems.

‘We would have to look at protecting the cars, because at the moment they are just exposed out on the street like any other cars.

‘It would cost us a lot of business.

‘We are a professional company.

‘This is not how we do business.

‘We don’t want to get involved in this sort of thing.’

The firm, which has been going for 30 years, employs 200 drivers and 50 office staff.

The vehicles were part of 100 new ones bought about a month ago.

General manager Joe Todd said: ‘It’s a malicious attack which was uncalled for.

‘We had just replaced the whole fleet of cars, which we usually do every three years.

‘We are asking drivers to be more vigilant and wary of where they are leaving their cars.’

The incidents happened between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning last week.

No suspects have been found and Hampshire Constabulary is investigating.

Witnesses or anyone or information should call police on 101.

Information about the incidents can be given anonymously by phoning the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/crime/ ... -1-5218857

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Six more vehicles damaged.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/ ... -1-5282855

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IDFIMH

they no say an probably not able to say right now but they kicked a baron an he cars off a while ago

Been attacked again today arson this time

Police investigate blaze at taxi firm’s base


Police are investigating after a number of taxis belonging to the Andicars cab firm were engulfed in fire.


Police and fire crews from Havant were called to an arson attack at the Andicars depot in Downley Road at 2.45am today.

They spent more than an hour controlling the blaze which hit 15 cars, before handing the investigation over to Hampshire Police. Detectives said seven vehicles had have been burnt out or severely damaged as a result of the blaze.

One neighbour described the incident as being like a series of gunshots.

It is believed the arsonists got into the back of the depot by climbing over the Nutwick Road railway footbridge and cut through two wire fences.

The neighbour said: ‘There was a series of bangs, which sounded just like guns going off, but then we looked out and saw the smoke and the flames.’

It is not yet clear how many cars were affected and a spokesman for the police said the investigation was ‘in the early stages’.

The fire is another blow to the firm after a series of incidents in which its vehicles have been damaged.

As previously reported in The News, 11 of Andicars’ new fleet of cabs were damaged in the past few months when paint stripper was poured over them by vandals, leaving the firm with a hefty repair bill.

At that time the firm’s owners said: ‘We have recently invested in a fleet of new cars and someone appears to be trying to sabotage our business.

‘We want this person stopped, so if you have any idea who it may be please tell us so we can pass the information to the police.

‘We are a local firm providing work for local drivers, well-known and well-used by everyone in Havant.

‘Everyone else tells us we do everything right – so what we have done to upset this individual is a mystery.’

DS Fiona Holland said it was believed a hole was cut in fencing to gain entry to the compound sometime after 2am.

She said: ‘We are aware of previous reports of damage to Andicars vehicles and looking into the possibility that they may be connected to this most recent incident. At this stage we have no evidence to confirm they are linked.

‘We would appeal to anyone who may have seen suspicious people or vehicles in the area of Downley Road in the early hours of the morning, or has any information about who may be responsible to contact us.’

Anyone with information should contact CID at Waterlooville police station on 101. Alernatively call the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/ ... -1-5347306

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I would check all the cctv at all the local garages for scrots filling fuel cans

Somebody is determined to put him out of business

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Hopefully, highly unlikely but turf wars come to mind!

Jesus they've pissed up someone's leg haven't they? I hope they catch them, if they do they'll only catch the person who started the fire, they won't find the person who's behind the whole lot.

Why petrol stations Skip? You can go into ASDA, Morrison's Sainsbury's and buy BBQ fluid. They'll have a hard task IMO.

A lot would depend on the police having the will to solve the crime. They could, if they wanted, find out what type of fuel was used to start the fires and go from there. In the Philpott investigation they worked out what fuel was used and where it came from.

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Grandad,

But in this case nobody died so resources probably won't be allocated although analysis of the accelerant shouldn't be an expensive job plenty of labs around with the right equipment

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

One wonders why there isn't CCTV at the site, and maybe a couple of big f*** off guard dogs.

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IDFIMH

There looks like a cctv camera on the wall of the building in the firwst photo in the OP

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

some one has got it in for him big time, hope the company gets though it

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Live life with a smile