Taxi Driver Online

Private hire drivers caught 'defecating' in residential streets and gardens while waiting for airport passengers

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... g-17868434

Residents in parts of Wythenshawe say they've have been threatened by drivers when asking them to move on

Drivers of private hire vehicles have been caught ‘defecating’ in streets and gardens while waiting for passengers from Manchester Airport, a councillor has claimed.

Labour’s Tim Whiston has called for greater enforcement after growing numbers of vehicles licensed outside of the city have been spotted ‘waiting for hours’ in parts of Wythenshawe.

The Sharston councillor said it was a ‘major issue’ in his ward, as well as neighbouring Peel Hall and Woodhouse Park, with drivers opting to park in residential areas instead of paying to wait at the airport.

Residents have also been threatened by drivers when asking them to move on, the council’s neighbourhoods and environment scrutiny committee heard on Wednesday.

Coun Whiston said: “This week I’ve had two residents on two separate roads telling me that taxi drivers have been defecating in the streets and people’s gardens blatantly and in broad daylight.

“Private hire cars are coming in from outside of the city, not licensed in Manchester, and are littering and waiting on our streets for hours.

“There’s a waiting area for private hire taxis at the airport so there’s no excuse for it. This is a major issue."

Private hire drivers can wait for passengers for up to three hours at a designated area at the airport’s JetParks 1 car park.

Toilets are provided on-site but drivers have to pay for the privilege. A maximum stay of three hours costs £2, after which they have to leave or face an overstay charge of £50.

Manchester City Council has produced leaflets with information about the airport waiting area for residents to give to drivers.

But Coun Whiston said: “Either residents are threatened by [the drivers] or by the time they’ve [produced the leaflet] they’re away in the car.

“There needs to be patrolling there and maybe even just cameras to catch them in the act.”

Daniele Doyle, manager of the council’s licensing unit, said they were ‘well aware’ of the issues raised by Coun Whiston.

The meeting heard that the dedicated taxi and private hire compliance team spends most of their time in the city centre, though areas around the airport were the ‘next major location’.

But the meeting heard that the unit has no direct authority over offending vehicles licensed by other local authorities.

Ms Doyle added: “If our officers were physically there it would be a deterrent but if we caught people we have no power to take any action.

“Rather than spend an inordinate amount of time proactively hoping to catch these individuals, we’ve asked residents to catch number plates and report back to the host authority themselves.”

“The issue around putting cameras there is it would have to be permanent because to put it there and move it away would just compound the problem.”

of course Manchester Airport getting greedy over parking charges has nothing to do with it

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

Very probably a factor, but was assuming Uber and cross-bordering generally have something to do with it.

And, as the piece says, difficult for local LOs to do anything about them due to jurisdictional difficulties, thus exacerbating the whole thing