
Taxi and private hire drivers in Oxford are celebrating the reopening of Botley Road after three and a half years of roadworks that forced cabs into a six-mile detour.
The major route reopened on Sunday, September 20, following delays and cost increases from £161m to £237m for the rail bridge replacement scheme. The closure began in April 2023.
Zulfiqur Khan, a city cabbie of 35 years, said the prolonged closure created tough moments when explaining the massive workaround to international visitors: “I had a passenger from America and he could not believe it.”
Welcoming the finish line, Mr Khan added: “It is going to make life much easier.” Another unnamed driver echoed the relief, saying: “Thank God it is open.”
Though motorists from Botley will now have a direct route into Oxford, since the closure a congestion charge has been introduced in the city, which will soon be replaced by the trial of a traffic filter scheme.
A spokesperson for the county council said: "From 28 September, car drivers will no longer be able to pay the £5 congestion charge to go through the traffic filters.
"Cars with valid permits and all other vehicles can travel through the filters at all times."

A British passenger has been arrested in Seville after allegedly stabbing a local cabbie 16 times in a brutal knife assault, sparking fresh safety demands from the city's taxi trade.

Fife councillors will decide on Tuesday, 22 September, whether to grant Uber Scot Limited a private hire booking office licence at Rosyth Business Centre on Cromarty Campus after 431 objections were lodged.

Jaan G Saqlain, managing director of Doncaster private hire firm Absolute Cabs, has received the prestigious “Farzand e Pakistan” (Son of Pakistan) award at a London ceremony over the weekend.

Khalid Bashir continued working for Keighley-based Aireside Private Hire for a month while Bradford Council was processing his licence renewal.

Cllr Andrew Parkhurst shared the footage online, stating: "I have been sent a shocking video. It appears to show a Flintshire cabbie watching YouTube while driving a vulnerable child.

If approved, the two-mile fare would harmonise at £7, matching Carlisle rates while raising fares £1 (17%) in Allerdale and 80p (13%) in Copeland, with no change for Carlisle.

Sukhy Sidhu, 59, was alerted just after 10.15pm by his 21-year-old son when a Ring doorbell alarm went off, capturing footage of a person standing next to the vehicle as flames ignited.

Muhammad Malik, 46, claimed a bin bag containing the £50,000 worth of drugs was left behind by an unidentified customer and that he set off on an 11-hour, 600-mile round trip to Scotland.

Abdiqadir Mohamed Nur faced Glasgow City Council’s licensing and regulatory committee at John Street following a complaint to the local authority’s taxi and private hire enforcement unit.

Coventry taxi fares will increase despite opposition from local cabbies, following approval by cabinet member for city services Cllr Patricia Hetherton on 15 September.

The council tested 630 drivers - 13% of its 4,800 registered drivers - over the past 7 years, uncovering a “small minority” using illegal substances on a “recreational basis or as habitual users.”

officers from the Heywood Neighbourhood Policing Team executed a comprehensive Traffic Enforcement Operation under the banner of Op Paragon. 

Lead licensing officer Nicky Jones told councillors that Denbighshire’s rates sit above 2nd place Swansea and beat averages in England, while other N. Wales councils charge “a lot less than ours”.

London’s licensed taxi fleet could shrink further as parts shortages for TX5 electric cabs leave self-employed drivers facing income loss and extended vehicle downtime.

If approved, the new maximum rates will start on 1 October. No objections were raised during a public consultation, and the local taxi trade supports the review.

Cllr John Grafton says resigning as a councillor is an option following no confidence vote over a controversial June decision to let convicted rapist David Brown keep his taxi operator’s licence.

Local operator Blueline has been pushing for the colour requirement to be reconsidered, arguing that mandatory full-body yellow resprays or wraps add over £2,000 extra per vehicle

This new model will take over from the iconic TX range-extended electric taxi which launched in 2018

eteran cabbie Rob Finlayson told PHTM: "Glasgow City Council is proposing to revoke the North Hanover Street taxi stance beside Queen Street Station. I’ve formally objected.

The follows a six year jail term being given in October 2022 to David Park, the 73-year-old Director of the firm, who used stolen taxes to help buy a £3.8 million mansion in rural Berkshire.
