Anger as taxis park on double yellows

THEY say a picture is worth a thousand words…..but a few choice ones could suffice for angry motorists, pedestrians and businesses who see these taxi drivers clogging up Worcester’s Foregate Street on double yellow lines.

One month ago Worcester City Council admitted its penalty points system, meant to catch out unruly drivers, wasn’t as effective as it should be.

But tightening up the system doesn’t seem to have made a difference to one of the city’s main through-routes if this image is anything to go by.

Furious Chris Pate, from Andrew Grant estate agents in Foregate Street, who took the picture at 5.30pm on Tuesday, said: “This is what tends to happen every day.

“It’s absolutely commonplace, especially from 7pm when the taxi drivers think nobody is patrolling the area.

“You can see in the image how a bus was struggling to manoeuvre around the taxis as they all sit there on double yellow lines.

“From our point of view, we see it all the time and nothing seems to get done - I’m really angry about it.

“They sit there with the engine running. I reckon it’s only become a problem in the last two years.”

It follows years of steady rises which means the overall number of taxis went from 102 in 2001 to the current record high of 288.

The taxis often sit on the lines because the rank a few steps up the road is already full.

The city council has defended its record, and told your Worcester News traffic wardens visit Foregate Street “every day, several times a day”.

The authority also said parking on double yellow lines for a few moments to drop off passengers or pick one up is not illegal - and claims some drivers may be waiting for a booking which is late.

A spokesman said: “Our civil enforcement officers will issue penalty charge notices to cars - both taxis and private vehicles - parked illegally on double yellow lines.

“Taxi drivers who are caught parking illegally or over-ranking will also have points awarded against them, and that can lead to them being called before our licensing committee.”

Worcester Taxi Drivers Association is paying for a new, independent survey costing around £9,000 which could see a cap put on future numbers.

Mohammed Ali, from the association, says there are “too many taxis clogging up the streets” and is backing a clampdown.

source: http://www.malverngazette.co.uk/