A court has dismissed the appeal of a private hire driver from Reading, Shabuddin Parvas, over the revocation of his licence for illegally plying for hire.
Parvas had appealed a decision by Reading Borough Council to revoke his licence after he was caught operating illegally during a multi-agency covert operation at the Henley Royal Regatta on July 5, 2024.
During the operation, Parvas was found to have offered to transport six passengers from Henley to Reading for £60 without a prior booking.
Appearing before Reading Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 14, the court upheld the council's decision and ordered Parvas to pay £700 toward the council's court costs.
Councillor John Ennis, lead councillor for climate strategy and transport, commented on the outcome: “The result sends a strong message that illegal activity won’t be ignored.”
He affirmed the council's commitment to safety, noting they "will continue to ensure visitors to the event are kept safe."
During the roadside inspection, 36 taxis and PHVs were checked, and 14 vehicles were found to be breaching road traffic and taxi licensing laws.
Drivers say they are duel licence holders and can already work for more than one operator but they state the public don't know the difference and try and flag down PHVs in the street.
The rank is currently leased by Merry Hill to Triple 20 Taxis, which won the tender in Winter 2023, replacing Waterfront Cars.
Councillors in the Royal Borough have voted in favour of an increase in hackney carriage fares, which was described as "long overdue" and necessary to align prices with the rate of inflation.
Warwick District Council’s licensing team recently collaborated with the City of Wolverhampton's Compliance Department to conduct inspections on 27 PHVs operating in Leamington.
Mohammed Yamin, 55, a taxi driver from Newport, has been ordered to pay back £128,409 after being caught transporting 2kg of "high-purity cocaine" in his cab.
The power allows Telford's licensing officers to stop and, if necessary, suspend any Wolverhampton-licensed vehicles "that are found to be unsafe or potentially dangerous."
Duncan Beattie, 77, pleaded guilty to driving without "due care and attention" after striking a four-year-old child at a pedestrian crossing.
Please remember that you are only permitted to wait for customers on authorised taxi ranks and are not permitted to form an ‘illegal rank’ in a non-specified area.
Mr. Willder booked a night-time taxi from Veezu and described the driver’s initial reaction: "He refused and said, 'I'm not allowing any dogs into my car'."
Paul Sheward, 38, has been sentenced to six years and four months in prison at Worcester Crown Court for a knifepoint robbery and assault on a taxi driver.
A recent public survey on Darlington Borough Council's updated taxi policy found that "64% of respondents backed installing cameras."
The largest proposed increase is 9.5%, which "could see the cost of a Tariff 3 journey of 10 miles rise by more than £4 over the Christmas and New Year holidays."
Taxi drivers in Witney are "furious" about the Oxfordshire County Council's proposed Witney "highway improvements" scheme, specifically the plan to drastically reduce the main taxi rank in Market Square.
The incident began around 11pm when officers attempted to stop a Kia Niro taxi that drove through a road closure at the junction of Bold Lane and Broad Lane.
The operation, part of the upcoming 'Dark Nights' initiative to improve road safety, focused on targeted checks of taxis and PHVs travelling to and from the city.
Edwin Youll, a 63-year-old unlicensed taxi driver from Normanby, has been sentenced to 32 years in prison at Teesside Crown Court on monday 13 October, for a string of violent sexual offences.
Police Scotland objected to the application, stating they felt Scot Craig was “not a fit and proper person” for the role.
The council plans to increase the flag-down fee during the day by 60p, moving it from £3.20 to £3.80. At night and on Sundays, the initial fee will rise to £5.70.
During the robbery, the 59-year-old driver was threatened, chased out of his car, and had his work mobile phone stolen, which was later recovered.