More from Plymouth and the fuel dispute
Pedantic note - wish newspapers and the like would stop using the term 'petrol station' - I mean, they might as well say 'diesel station'
'Fuel station' or 'filling station' is preferable
And better not get started on whether it should be Morrison's, Morrisons or Morrisons', but I think the Herald is being a bit inconsistent here
Morrisons refuse to serve Plymouth taxi driver at petrol stationhttps://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/p ... ed-5993106The taxi driver says they should also be entitled to a card similar to the NHS which which lists them as key workers
Image: Plymouth HeraldA Plymouth taxi driver has been left "gobsmacked" after a Morrisons' petrol station worker refused to serve her because she was not a key worker.
Morrisons has defended its decision stating that it was waiting for the next delivery of fuel and would have reopened fully later that day.
Rose Harvey began driving her taxi three years ago and has continued throughout the pandemic, despite rising Covid-19 cases.
The dependable cabbie has ferried patients to and from Derriford, nurses and doctors to their patients and everything in between.
Yet, last week at a Morrisons' petrol station in Plymstock, Rose was told she could not fill her fuel tank up because she needed an NHS card to do so.
A spokesperson for the supermarket chain said: "We are sorry that the customer was unable to get the fuel they needed. We were waiting for our next delivery and when that arrived later in the day were able to reopen fully."
Describing the incident, Rose said: "I didn't actually go in for fuel because all of it was coned off, I went in to get a coffee and I said to the guy working 'have you got enough fuel for us' and he went 'only if you've got ID'.
"I said 'what ID do I need' and he went 'your NHS card' but I explained to him that I'm a taxi driver and we deliver patients and he still said I wasn't a key worker."
The taxi driver said she was left "gobsmacked" and went onto explain she delivers cancer patients to hospital on a daily basis.
However she said the garage worker had no sympathy for her.
She said: "I said to him 'you're telling me we deliver cancer patients and vulnerable adults and children all through the Covid-19 pandemic and now you're deciding we're not key workers' and he just said 'yeah, I don't make the rules'.
"Everyone relies on us and I haven't stopped working all through the pandemic so for someone to say taxi drivers aren't key workers then what do we to do?
"It's like shop workers and everyone - it takes all of us to keep everything going."
Rose left the petrol station feeling panicked that she wouldn't find anywhere that would let her fill her vehicle up.
She said: "I came out of there feeling stressed and I started panicking because I do like 100 miles a day. I fill up in there every other day and I started thinking what am I going do because we take patients not only to Derriford but it could be Kingsbridge Hospital, anywhere.
"I just walked out of there shaking my head thinking it's disgusting."
Rose said to add insult to injury the Morrisons worker explained that he was a key worker and she wasn't.
The Plymouth taxi driver said: "He said 'I'm a key worker', and I thought you're sat in a freaking garage, mate. So you're supplying us with fuel, but you're not giving it to the right ones.
"I decided I'll take my custom elsewhere so I tried Sainsbury's which was totally different. I thought I go in your garage every other day and that's the way you treat me.
"People moan there's not enough taxi drivers but we're only human ourselves. We can only do what we physically can you know."
Rose says that taxi drivers should also be entitled to a card similar to the NHS which lists them as key workers.
She said: "Why haven't we got an NHS card? We deliver patients to the hospital and if it wasn't for the patients then the hospital wouldn't be running would it?
"We should have a card to say we're a priority. We do deliver patients and key workers."
Taxi drivers are increasingly under pressure and in Plymouth, taxi drivers have said they are struggling to find enough fuel to continue working as panic buying continues.
Martin Leaves, secretary of Plymouth Licensed Taxi Association (PLTA) has called on "city leaders, members of Parliament and leading authorities" to encourage the Government to trigger the Energy Act 1976, chapter 76.
If triggered, this act would enable the secretary of state to take control of acquisition of the use of fuels and include measures to make sure only priority industries and people are able to purchase fuel.
Discussing the ongoing fuel shortage, Martin said: "With the continuing panic buying at the petrol forecourts, with many garages running dry, many taxi drivers are struggling to find enough fuel to continue their work.
"As soon as a petrol service station is refuelled there seems a big surge to soon run dry again."
Like Rose, Martin pointed out the vital service that taxi drivers provide in transporting NHS workers, care workers and providing school transport to thousands of vulnerable children, as well as vulnerable or disabled adults.
It's an especially worrying time for Rose who returned a positive Covid-19 test this week which means she can't work for at least the next 10 days.
She said: "I've got 10 days off now because of Covid but there's worse people off so we've got to keep going."
As she's self employed she'll receive no income whilst she's off the road.
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