Passengers at a Watford taxi rank will be filmed by CCTV cameras and asked to provide ID before they are allowed to travel.
Watford Borough Council, which announced the measures today, is hoping to improve driver safety after a series of violent attacks by drunken thugs.
Night-time passengers at the busy Rickmansworth Road taxi rank will now be filmed by the specialist taxi marshals as they wait in the queue – a measure that, the council hopes, will prevent rowdy and violent behaviour in the early hours of the morning.
In addition, all passengers will be asked to provide marshals with ID before they leave. These details will be kept on file for 31 days, or passed to the police if and when a driver is attacked.
The measures are part of the Altogether Safer Watford Campaign, which brings together the police, council, community groups, pubs and clubs.
Watford Borough Council Licensing Manager Jeffrey Leib explained the thinking behind the decision. He said: “Passengers already have to provide their details when booking taxis over the phone or on the internet, and drivers are identifiable by their photo-badges and council licence plates.
“Although this is a small culture change for night-time passengers to produce some ID, we feel this is necessary to help reassure drivers, who are some of the most vulnerable to attack in Watford’s workforce.”
Running parallel to these changes, a network of six “safe havens” have been identified on major routes leading out of the town centre. Drivers feeling threatened can stop at any one of these – which are well-lit and covered by CCTV – and call the police.
The changes come after many months of pressure from the Watford Hackney Carriage Drivers Association, which had warned that a driver “could be killed” of action was not taken.
Watford Borough Council is responsible for licensing all Hackney Carriage taxis across the town.