'Death trap' taxis

A joint taxi safety operation between Burnley Council, police, VOSA, DVLA and Lancashire County Council Engineering Services led to 56 per cent of cabs being taken out of service straight away because they weren't safe or legal.

One driver didn't even have a taxi driving licence, the agencies found.

The council's community safety boss said the findings were "totally unacceptable".

And police have slammed the town's taxi firms for their "poor standards", pledging more crackdowns in the near future.

Taxi bosses have vowed to get to the bottom of the problem.

The shock findings come a year after almost all of Burnley's 34 black cabs were found to be unroadworthy in twice-yearly tests, while 49 per cent of the borough's 824 private hire vehicles were found to have serious defects.

But the problem has worsened since then. In the latest crackdown 16 vehicles licensed by Burnley Council - 14 private hire and two hackney carriages - were escorted to the county council's testing station in Princess Way by the police so that they could be inspected to ascertain vehicle fitness and compliance with licensing conditions.

Of the 16, nine failed (56 per cent) and were immediately taken out of service after their drivers were issued with prohibition notices for various defects, including defective lights, tyres, steering and seatbelts.

A council spokesman revealed that after checking the identity of one of the drivers it transpired that he was not in possession of a private hire driver's licence while another unlicensed driver was also stopped in an unlicensed vehicle.

Councillor Charles Bullas, the council's Executive member responsible for community safety, said: "A 56 per cent failure rate is totally unacceptable.

"Licensed operators and drivers provide a service to the public. They must take more responsibility in ensuring that the vehicles that they provide and drive are maintained to the required high standards. The council will continue to rigidly enforce the rules in an effort to achieve those standards."

After the five-hour operation last Friday night, the council's licensing enforcement officer Mick Armfield said: "The majority of the defects were for defective lights or for tyres below the legal limit. These are items that should be checked by the drivers before the start of every shift. The council's top priority is the safety of the public and these kind of operations will continue in future."

Sergeant Martin Bishop from the police's Pennine Division's Road Policing Unit added: "This joint operation was a success with a number of vehicles taken off the road. Members of the public expect the taxis that they are using to be safe and legal.

"I am disappointed with the poor standards of the industry and would ask companies to do better. We will be engaging in joint enforcement activity again in the very near future."

Passengers said they were worried by the findings. Claire Vickers, 27, of Belvedere Road, Burnley, who regularly uses taxis at the weekend, said: "This is outrageous. It's actually quite frightening to think that so many taxis are not safe. The worrying thing is that thousands of people who go out every weekend in Burnley have to rely on a taxi to get home but they could be travelling in a death trap."

Paul Brent, regional director of the National Taxi Association, added: "I can't condone vehicles that are not up to par. These people are taking a chance with somebody else's life.

"What would happen if, through poor servicing, they hit another car while having four passengers on board or if they hit an innocent pedestrian because the breaks didn't work properly. This is just not good enough and there can be no excuse."

Habib Rahman, chairman of Burnley's Private Hire Association, said: "We are going to have a discussion regarding this matter at our next meeting on October 6 to get to the bottom of what the problems are. The cars should be in perfect condition when they go out onto the roads so this is not acceptable. There will be a clear message going out to tell them to improve."