Furious taxi drivers say roadworks outside Ayr railway station have turned busy rank into scene of 'carnage'Cabbies say the council has left them to "fend for themselves" in a battle of kerb space after cordoning off their usual spots.
Taxi drivers Rodney Harris, Chris Colville and Tam Ferguson are angry over changes (Photo: Iain Brown/Ayrshire Post)
Fizzing taxi drivers claim roadwork's have turned Ayr’s busiest rank into a scene of “carnage”.
Cabbies turfed off their usual patch at the town’s railway station say they are running a gauntlet of hate in a bid to pick up business.
And they insist authorities have left them to “fend for themselves” in a battle for kerb space.
With the railway station rank out of commission, drivers have been forced to set up temporary base across the street outside a kebab house and bookies.
But they claim members of the public are driving a horse and cart through the rulebook to leave tensions simmering.
Tommy Getgood, chair of the South Ayrshire Taxi Association, revealed: “The signs are up and clear – parking has been temporarily suspended for the public.
“But our guys are being subjected to all sorts of abuse when arriving to find people still parked in the spaces. The train station rank is the busiest in town – it is our historic base – and so many of the guys rely on it for business.
“But trade is already down about 30 per cent because of this and the guys have no back-up when trying to move people on.
“Is it going to take one of our guys being hit before something is done?
“They’re just trying to do their job and nobody else would have to put up with that in their place of work.”
With parking being a decriminalised matter in South Ayrshire, police have so far been unable to intevene in the row.
Ayr cabbie Chris Colville, 33, said: “The police say they can’t do anything so all we’ve got is the parking wardens.
“They come by every now and again but it’s basically left to us to try and deal with it.
“The place has been carnage and it’s a nightmare because we’re only trying to do our job.”
Stewart Turner, head of the Ayrshire Roads Alliance who are carrying out the works, said: “Our aim is to be off site this week, but the current situation is not being helped by motorists ignoring the restrictions and parking in the temporary taxi rank.
“We share the taxi drivers’ frustration that this is happening and have asked our traffic enforcement officers to pay extra attention to parking in Smith Street, taking the appropriate action against those motorists who choose to ignore the restrictions.”
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local ... ks-9995120
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