Taxi Driver Online

A hackney cab driver in Plymouth could have his licence revoked for allegedly refusing to pick up disabled passengers - on 'at least three occasions'.John Tregea, who has held a Plymouth City Council black cab licence since before 1996, has been called before the council's licensing committee accused of refusing to pick up wheelchair users.

Mr Tregea has been summoned after the council received a complaint from a member of the public on November 27, last year.

The complaint alleged that Mr Tregea - and 'others' - had refused to take a wheelchair bound passenger to their destination.

But yesterday, a Hackney cab source claimed that Mr Tregea 'has a bad back' and was unable to get the wheelchair user in his taxi.

A licensing report released prior to the case said that on November 26, 2006, at the Hackney Carriage stand in Old Town Street, 'a woman approached the first taxi with her mother, who was in a wheelchair'.

The report said: "The first taxi driver attempted to take the wheelchair and four other passengers in the group - which included a toddler in a pushchair - but had to refuse the fare as his taxi was not licensed to take this amount of passengers.

"Mr Tregea was second in the rank and allegedly told the complainant that he did not take wheelchairs, thereby refusing to take a fare from the rank without good reason. This was witnessed by the driver in a taxi, fourth in the line, and was confirmed in a letter sent by that driver to the licensing office on November 29, 2006."

The report said that Mr Tregea's taxi is licensed to carry five passengers - and is wheelchair accessible. It added that the council sent a letter to all the drivers in the incident, asking them for explanations, and replies were received from all but Mr Tregea.

The report said: "Previous to this incident, on June 28, 2006, another wheelchair-bound passenger was refused to be driven by Mr Tregea. Again the incident was on the Hackney Carriage stand in Old Town Street. The same vehicle was involved and the complainant stated in a letter that they were waved away by the driver."

A letter was sent from the licensing office on June 29, warning Mr Tregea - and outlining four key facts: The vehicle was wheelchair accessible; it was on a Hackney Carriage stand, available for hire; the driver was Mr Tregea and he had refused to carry a wheelchair user; Mr Tregea does not hold a medical exemption from carrying wheelchairs.

The report said that 'as far back as November 9, 1996, a complaint was lodged against Mr Tregea for a similar matter. He was interviewed on December 17, 1996, with regard to this matter, and said in his statement that he did not remember the incident, and made no comment to the questions'.

The council can 'suspend, revoke or refuse to renew' a taxi driver's licence. Mr Tregea, whose licence expires in July 2009, has been invited to appear before the council's licensing committee at the Council House on January 23.

He is accused of refusing to take a wheelchair passenger 'without reasonable excuse'.

The report said: "The first taxi driver attempted to take the wheelchair and four other passengers in the group - which included a toddler in a pushchair - but had to refuse the fare as his taxi was not licensed to take this amount of passengers.

One is why hasn't the council sorted it already, how many times do drivers get away with breaking the law down there?

Two is WTF hasn't the driver applied for an exemption?

Councillors have suspended a Plymouth taxi driver's licence for seven days following complaints that he turned away people in wheelchairs.John Tregea, of Wolseley Road, refused to take disabled passengers on three separate occasions, the city council's licensing committee was told.

On one occasion, in 1996, he allegedly asked a council licensing officer: "Do we have to carry these people?"

And, in June last year, a fellow driver told the council that he had seen Mr Tregea turn away a passenger and say: "I don't do wheelchairs."

In doing so, Mr Tregea broke the conditions of the Town Police Clauses Act of 1847, the committee heard.

Councillors heard that the latest incident occurred in November last year, when a driver told the council that Mr Tregea had refused to take a group of four, including a woman in a wheelchair, in his cab.

But Mr Tregea, who had been second in the queue at a cab rank in Old Town Street when the incident happened, told the committee that there had been a disagreement between a number of drivers.

He said that the driver in the first cab, which was too small to carry the whole group and the wheelchair, had advised the passengers to take the fourth cab at the rank, which was larger.

Mr Tregea said: "I didn't refuse that fare. The first driver pushed the wheelchair back to the fourth cab.

"In the meantime, somebody jumped in my cab and I drove off. When I got back, there was a big argument between the first driver and the fourth driver."

He later added: "I've got no hang-ups with wheelchairs at all."

The committee heard that a complaint was first lodged against Mr Tregea in November 1996. A month later, he was interviewed about the matter by the council's then assistant licensing officer Jim Balsdon, but he refused to sign his statement.

After the interview, Mr Balsdon concluded that Mr Tregea was an "uncaring, self-centred individual", councillors heard.

But Mr Tregea told the committee that he could not recall the interview.