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Police called out to deal with taxi driver protest over broken gate

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/st ... xi-1571691

Hackney carriage drivers are losing out on Hanley trade

Taxi drivers have staged a city centre protest - in a row over a broken gate at the entrance to Stoke-on-Trent's main nightclub strip

The Hackney carriage drivers are furious that private-hire cabbies and out-of-the-area black cabs are illegally picking up fares outside bars and clubs in Trinity Street, Hanley.

The dispute has broken out because the gate at the junction of Trinity Street and Marsh Street - which is designed to keep out private-hire drivers and make Trinity Street traffic-free - has been broken for the past six weeks.

Now members of Stoke-on-Trent Hackney Carriage Association have staged a protest outside Hanley Town Hall in a bid to get the gate fixed.

Their demonstration was cut short after police were called and the 10 cabbies were moved from the town hall foyer.

Association chairman Raja Waqas Nawaz, aged 36, of Hanley, said: “The gates are not being shut at weekends and on Monday nights which is allowing illegal pick-ups. Private hire and black cabs from Newcastle [-under-Lyme] are not allowed to pick up and drop off in parts of Hanley between 9pm and 5am.

"But the police are not closing the gate. It means people have been on nights out when a cab just pulls up and they are getting in without knowing who is taking them."

He added: “These pick-ups are illegal and the driver and passengers are uninsured if anything was to happen. Allowing this is a danger to public health and affecting when we have to pay our bills.

"This has been going on for six weeks and we have been writing to the council and the police because they are not shutting the gate and cars can squeeze past the cones.

“The police are letting these cars illegally pick people up and the drivers picking up illegally are not being fined.”





Association member Jamil Ahmed, of Shelton, said: “We want answers - and keep being fobbed off. We have been told there is a problem with the lock on the gate - but why has it not been fixed. We are willing to pay for a new lock so it is fixed now and not in two months.

“Stoke-on-Trent drivers have been getting a bad name because black cabs from Newcastle and private hire are able to come into Hanley.

“The council and the police are not enforcing the rules and this is causing us to struggle and then the council is allowing even more black cab licences.”

The gate is operated by Staffordshire Police and Stoke-on-Trent City Council is pressing the force for a solution.

A council spokesman said: “We are working with the taxi drivers to help to resolve this issue. This has included regular contact with them to keep them updated about the situation.

“The group arrived at Hanley Town Hall without any notice and as a result the relevant officers and managers were not there to speak to them. We informed the group that we would contact them as soon as possible with further information. We want to encourage taxi drivers to operate in the city, and operate safely and responsibly.”

Police have put cones out in Trinity Street while the gate is broken.

A police spokesman said: “We are aware of the operational issues with the gate on Trinity Street as a result of a fault with the locking mechanism. As a temporary measure cones have been placed at the location. We are working to resolve the matter and hope to have the gate back working as soon as possible.”

it seems the right to peaceful protest doesn't extend to cabbies judging by Guildford and stoke

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

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Why not a barrier, with NPR so it only opens for local cabs

I have a brilliant solution just fix the fecking gate.

I presume the gate, if it is shut and locked, keeps the Local Taxi and PH Trades out as well. Punters have to walk out of the sealed area to a Rank or to meet a PH they have booked.

Am I right in this supposition?

Is it the Gate or the lock that's broken, if it is the lock why dont the Coppers who operate it not just tie it up or use a pair of handcuffs when they shut it?

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

According to the photograph no vehicles of any description are allowed on that street between 9.00 pm and 5.00 am thus meaning any vehicle entering has committed a road traffic offence and the police should prosecute them all.

Since when are all jobs illegal and passengers uninsured?

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IDFIMH

Why is it another cabbie thinks that ph are uninsured if they pick up off the street? It is a complete fabrication of the truth. Is he saying that if they break the law they are uninsured? In that case if he is caught breaking the speed limit, does that invalidate his insurance? I think not.

But is that the kind of thing police would attempt to enforce. No - that's why they need the gate.

Remember a good few years ago in Dundee when police started putting up temporary plastic barriers around the kebab central area when the clubs came out, blocking it to traffic, so that the 'revellers' could wander about on the road without danger. No proper signage, and I wondered about the legality of it all, but of course in that kind of environment nobody really bothers about that kind of thing.

A few days ago a 17-years-old driver run over and killed a reveller when the clubs were spilling out. Not sure if the barriers were up or not (think they're only up at weekends) but I think the incident happened just outside the barriered area anyway.