RELIEVED: Nigel Webb
AN ABERGAVENNY taxi driver yesterday won a battle with Monmouthshire County Council to allow him to keep a camera in his vehicle.
Nigel Webb, 59, from Llanfoist, runs Nigel’s Taxis with his wife Lynn.
He said the couple bought and fitted the camera to the vehicle after suffering vandalism over a five-year period, including damaged paintwork and slashed tyres.
But following a routine inspection by council officers, Mr Webb was told he had to remove the camera or he could face having the vehicle’s taxi licence suspended or even revoked because it constituted a mechanical alteration to the vehicle under the council’s licensing conditions.
He said: “Monmouthshire County Council demanded we take it out and then said if we didn’t it could result in them revoking or suspending our licence but it’s our sole means of livelihood.
“It made me angry because as far as I was concerned it was paid for by us and it’s not a mechanical alteration.”
CAB CAMERA: The dashboard mounted camera
He said the battery-operated camera was fitted in the same way a satellite navigation system is, with pads on the dashboard. There are also stickers on the rear doors warning people about the camera and any passengers who do not want it on while they are in the taxi can request it is switched it off.
But the Webbs have now received a letter from the council stating they can keep the camera.
Mrs Webb said: “It’s great news. It’s a relief as we weren’t willing to take it out. But the council should have known it wasn’t a mechanical alteration to the vehicle.”
A council spokesman said this was the first time a camera had been fitted in a taxi in Monmouthshire and a review was carried out by council officers.
He confirmed the review concluded the Webbs could keep the camera and any other taxi firms wanting to fit cameras would have their cases reviewed by the council.
Worth exploring
Ben Galloway with the seats slashed by passengers
POLICE are hunting for drunken taxi passengers who pulled out a knife and shredded the interior of the taxi they were travelling home in – causing £1,000-worth of damage.
The vandals are thought to be a group of six men who were taking part in a cycle ride for charity the day after a boozy night out in Dorchester.
Ben Galloway, workshop manager of taxi owners Bob’s Cars, said: “I’m upset and angry that someone can do this to a vehicle that’s taking them home.
“They’d been drinking and carrying a knife which is very scary.
“It’s a kick in the teeth because it’s mindless vandalism – it wasn’t very long ago that someone vandalised three of our minibuses that were parked at our depot.
“About £1,000 of damage has been done and we’re offering a substantial cash reward to anyone with information that will lead to a conviction of those responsible.”
The minibus taxi’s seat back was slashed, the vinyl stitching was pulled out and the inside stuffing was removed.
Driver Dave Crabb – who picked up the group from outside Snappy’s Pizza at the Forum Centre at 1.41am on Sunday and drove them to Sherborne – said he was very confident there was no damage to the minibus before he picked the group up. He checked the car on return to Dorchester and spotted the damage. Mr Galloway, 25, added: “It was a right mess when I looked at it.
“The police are looking at the CCTV footage from outside Snappy’s to see if they will be able to track the people down. It’s a case of trying to put faces to the names.
“They told our driver that they were doing a sponsored cycle ride from Sherborne to Dorchester the next day.
“If anyone knows anyone who was taking part it could be useful.”
The eight-seater taxi minibus was meant to be used the following day to transport a patient to Dorset County Hospital for dialysis and to transport a child under the care of social services.
Staff at Bob’s Cars laid on alternative transport to carry out the jobs and arranged for the damaged seat to be repaired.
Just last month, vandals struck at the Bob’s Cars workshop on the Poundbury West Industrial Estate and ripped parts out of three wheelchair minibuses.
Inspector Les Fry of Dorchester Police said: “Crime enquiries are ongoing.
“We would appeal for any witnesses who have seen or know anything about this damage tom come forward.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the officer in the case PC Hayley Greening on 01305 222222.
Taxi drivers in Chippenham fear the town will become awash with trouble on Friday and Saturday nights following a Wiltshire Council decision to scrap taxi marshals.
The marshals are employed over the busiest hours on weekends to patrol the taxi rank in New Road, and drivers are worried their safety will be compromised without them.
Vivienne Heap, owner of Viv’s Taxis, said: “We really need them. Since we have had them it has been fantastic – no shop windows have gone and there is no fighting in the queues.
“It is quite worrying as a woman taxi driver because we will no longer have the marshals as back-up.”
A council working group set up in September to review the affect the marshals have had on late night violence and alcohol-related anti social behaviour in the town centre over the past two years found the impact had been limited and recommended the project should end.
Councillors at an area board meeting in January voted against the recommendation, and called on Wiltshire Council to look into funding for the scheme to continue at least on Saturday nights, but drivers have now been told there is no money available.
Kerry Bird, owner of SFB Cabs, said: “At the meeting the councillors said Chippenham is quiet and it is at 9.30pm, but after 1am it is a different ball game.
“It is the luck of the draw who you get in the back of your taxi. Most people are fine, but there are the odd one or two who think they are funny. When they see the marshals in their yellow jackets they get a bit wary, thinking they are the police, and they start to behave.
“Just Saturday night I had to flash my headlights at them to take three people out of my car because they were causing trouble.”
Manager of Subway Chris Cook also wants to retain the marshals. He said: “For my night staff they are a big asset.When it is raining people use our shop as a hideaway until a taxi is available.
“The marshals try to help manage that, as well as keep the peace. Without them I can see there being various situations where things kick off outside the store.”
A Wiltshire Council spokesman said it recognised the scheme was important and acted as a reassurance but said the council’s limited funding was being allocated to higher priority work.
The spokesman added: “However we are hopeful that by working with our partners and local businesses we will be able to secure the funding required to resume a Saturday service soon.”
A BID by two cabbies to challenge compulsory cameras in Southampton taxis has been struck out before their case could be heard.
Southampton City Council persuaded a judge that it should go no further as the pair were effectively appealing against a change of policy not a licensing condition requiring the controversial cameras.
But the taxi drivers insisted the council had only won on a legal technicality and vowed to fight on.
The council decided last August that all 263 hail and ride Hackney Carriage taxis and the 450 private hire vehicles in the city must have digital security cameras fitted.
Clive Johnson, chairman of Radio Taxis, the city’s largest firm, and Kevin May, the city’s largest taxi proprietor, launched a legal action after the council sent a letter confirming the requirement.
They wanted to argue that compulsory cameras breached a driver’s right to privacy under the human rights laws and that the requirement to install the £700 cameras reduced the resale value of their licences.
The Daily Echo reported last week how a taxi driver was trying to sell his vehicle licence, or plate, together with a new seven-seater taxi for £55,000, just weeks after it had been virtually given away in a lottery style council draw.
Mr May and Mr Johnson also claimed the decision to make them compulsory was disproportionate when recordings had only been retrieved from cars about once a month.
But council legal chiefs argued that Southampton Magistrates’ Court could not hear the appeal as it was against a statement detailing a change in policy, rather than the licensing condition requiring a camera be fitted, which only came into play when a new licence was granted or an existing one renewed after one year.
The council admitted that any suggestion in its letter that a taxicam condition had been immediately imposed by councillors was “simply wrong”.
Mr May said: “It was not far off what we expected. But we are not going to stop here. It’s going to continue.
We don’t think it’s reasonable to ask 100 per cent of drivers to have these cameras. It infringes human rights.”
Councillor Royston Smith, Cabinet member for community safety, said: “We hope that safety cameras in our taxis have been very successful at preventing crimes from happening.
“We are one of the few authorities in the country to require taxis to be fitted with these cameras and I am pleased that this is still the case.”
Taxi driver robbed of £100.
A TAXI driver in Horsham had £100 stolen from him after he was threatened on Saturday evening.
The victim took a man from Horsham railway station around 11pm to Birches Road where the incident took place.
The offender is described as being white, tall, of thin build, possibly aged in his 20s, clean shaven, with a southern accent and blonde crew cut hair style. He was wearing a white hooded top, blue jeans and a striped scarf.
Sussex Police are appealing for any witnesses who may have been in the area where the offence took place, or who saw a man of this description running from Crawley Road into the area of Owlbeech Road in Roffey carrying a bumbag.
Anyone with information is urged to contact DC Barry Collyer at Horsham CID on 0845 60 70 999 quoting serial 1774 of 6 February. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A POLICE crackdown on taxi-fare dodgers has swung into gear after cabbies complained of being attacked and abused.
The new zero-tolerance policy was launched in Coventry on Friday and police say they plan to routinely stop taxis in the city to ensure safety.
A greater emphasis will be placed on prosecuting fare-dodgers after Coventry Taxi Drivers’ Association said they were being left vulnerable to drunken passengers.
Alias Yousef, chairman of Coventry Taxi Drivers’ Association, said fare-dodging was a “massive problem” in Coventry.
He said: “Drivers get threatened, attacked and assaulted.”
Cabbies will be encouraged to immediately report fare-dodgers and any violence will be treated as a 999 emergency.
The association has threatened to take Coventry City Council to court after it ordered all black cabs in the city to remove their safety grilles.
Drivers staged a protest outside Coventry railway station in October to voice fears over the safety of drivers and are currently conducting an independent enquiry into the modifications.
Mr Yousuf added: “Coventry City Council have taken away the protection for the taxi driver with the metal grids.
This gives us some kind of extra protection. It’s a deterrent, really.”
Stickers are being put in all taxis in the city warning of the crackdown and the scheme will be rolled out across the rest of the West Midlands in the coming weeks.
Sergeant Nigel Pagdin, taxi liaison officer at Coventry’s Little Park Street station, said: “Making off without payment is an offence and will be taken more seriously from now on.
“Basically, it’s a case of ‘don’t even bother’.
“Taxi drivers have a hard enough job to do and we’ll do anything we can as a force to help make that easier.”
A PRIVATE HIRE driver who installed pepper spray on his dashboard and carried a wrench for his own safety has lost his job.
Police pulled Paul Rhodes, of Stringer Crescent, Westy, over in his car for a stop check at 8.30am on September 14.
Sara Drysdale, prosecuting, said: “The car was searched and a canister of pepper spray was attached to the dashboard and a wrench under the driver’s seat.
“He said he was in possession of a wrench for protection within his role as a private hire driver.”
Warrington Magistrates’ Court heard on Monday that the defendant had bought the pepper spray on e-Bay and said he would not hesitate to use it if he needed to against a violent customer.
John Barnes, defending the 34-year-old, said: “There are a numerous incidents that do occur with drunken customers and taxi drivers.
“This is a man of good character, never been in trouble before.”
He said Rhodes was no longer able to work as a taxi driver and had secured work driving a 7.5ton vehicle for an agency.
District Judge Bridget Knight said: “It is not America, we don’t have a constitutional right to carry weapons. In your circumstances if you had been attacked, you may have been with the wrench which you had in your possession.
“Thankfully you have not had to use them.
“I hope that driving a 7.5ton vehicle you won’t have to resort to having weapons for your self defence.”
Rhodes received a 150-hour community order and was ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs.
Phil Barnes, hackney/private hire licensing officer at Warrington Borough Council, said: “Unfortunately, there have been isolated incidents in Warrington where taxi/private hire drivers have been attacked, while driving thier cabs.
“While the council recognises the possible dangers to these drivers, we do not condone the carrying of weapons under any circumstances. There are in fact many nationally reported incidents where weapons have been used against taxi drivers.” He said methods are available to help drivers, such as an NVQ for taxi drivers at Warrington Collegiate, which covers conflict management techniques. Other options such as CCTV systems and driver safety shields are also available.
