Taxis ‘a hazard’ near Burnley area's pubs (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Taxis ‘a hazard’ near Burnley area's pubs

11:37am Wednesday 3rd February 2010 in Harle Syke By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter

TAXI firms have been told to stop parking outside pubs in the Harle Syke area of Burnley after fears that they could cause a serious accident.

Police have issued the warning to all local private hire companies in Burnley after motorists complained that the vehicles were causing a hazard in Briercliffe Road.

Police said the taxis were waiting outside the Commercial Inn, Craven Heifer and The Sun Inn for a period of time, as well as picking up and dropping off customers.

PC Sarah Whittaker, who covers the Briercliffe area, said the vehicles were making the road even more dangerous.

She said: “A lot of taxis were parking at the junction with the Sun Inn, which is quite bad anyway and can be hard to see – it could be dangerous.

“A letter was sent to all taxi firms saying that this has to stop, and it does seem to have done so to be fair. I would rather people just got in the taxi and went instead of having taxis hanging about.”

Mohammed Arif, chairman of the Burnley Taxi Association, said he had not received any letter from the police and believed the situation had been overplayed.

“I haven’t received anything and I’m not aware of anything the police have done,” he said.

“I don’t think it is a problem for Burnley taxis, it can get busy at times down there but usually only for about 15 minutes at a go.

"Nobody I speak to has raised any concerns and I don’t think it’s really a problem.”

Landlord at the Commercial Inn, Brian Parker, said: "The taxis come and park up here but I've had no problem with them. They're there for two minutes and then they're off.

“There are double yellow lines outside and there is nowhere else for them to park.”

Maxine Kenyon, landlady at the Craven Heifer, said: “Nobody has been to see me to complain about the parking outside the pub. I am not concerned about it.”