
PC Patrick Quinton, Taxi Compliance officer at Avon and Somerset Police, has reported on a busy weekend of taxi and private hire enforcement operations at Bristol Airport, where 142 vehicles licensed by 15 different councils were checked over two days.
Working alongside licensing enforcement officers from Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Newport and Wolverhampton councils, officers uncovered a number of licensing and vehicle compliance issues.
The findings included:
• Three ‘ghost plates’, designed to interfere with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.
• An unlicensed driver operating a licensed private hire vehicle being used as a shuttle service.
• An unlicensed replacement vehicle sent to collect passengers, despite being driven by a licensed private hire driver.
• Illegal window tints and a number of minor issues involving licence plates and driver badges.
During Friday's operation alone, 108 vehicles licensed by 13 different councils were inspected. Two vehicles found fitted with ghost plates were immediately suspended from service and their licence plates removed.
Officers also carried out 24 eyesight tests, with every driver passing.
Despite the breaches uncovered, police reported relatively few major compliance issues during Friday's checks.
Reflecting on the weekend, PC Patrick Quinton said:
"A bit of a full on weekend - 2 days of taxi operations at Bristol Airport."
He added that his weekend finished with two separate arrests in Bristol city centre, but thankfully neither involved taxi drivers!
The operation demonstrates the value of police and licensing authorities working together to enforce standards, particularly where taxis and private hire vehicles operate outside their licensing areas.

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