Manchester Car Hire
Bee plan to crackdown on bogus hire cabs
A SCHEME to crack down on bogus private hire cabbies preying on revellers in Manchester city centre is revealed today.
The move follows concern over a student's murder and a Manchester Evening News investigation into the danger of rogue cabs.
Huge yellow and black bee stickers - funded by the council - will be placed on the bonnet of each of the city's 3,000 licensed private hire cars. The stickers - supported by police - will also carry each car's licence plate and display warnings that cabs must be booked in advance otherwise insurance is invalid.
The scheme will be introduced in the city in July 2002 to coincide with the Commonwealth Games and talks will be held with a view to extending the idea across Greater Manchester.
Proposals to order all cabs to be resprayed have been abandoned because of the cost, but a standard colour, probably white, is set to be phased in. Private hire cars will also be able to carry adverts on their doors to help drivers pay rising insurance bills.
The scheme follows an unprecedented response to an M.E.N. investigation which revealed the large number of bogus cabbies in Manchester. We showed how unlicensed drivers were preying on late-night revellers.
Assaults
Two women have been raped and four sexually assaulted by rogue drivers during the last few months. Earlier this year, the M.E.N. reported how police believe there may be a serial sex attacker posing as a cabbie.
Five years ago, Salford University student Rachel Thacker, 22, was battered to death after getting into a bogus cab in the city centre. Her killer, Duncan Bermingham, was jailed for life.
City council leader Richard Leese said: "These measures should make it virtually impossible for someone to pretend to be a private hire driver when they are not.
"It will also make it easier to catch bogus cabbies because it will make them easier to identify on CCTV. The M.E.N. has been instrumental in delivering a very, very strong message that things have to change."
Private hire representatives also backed the plans. Paul Meek, chairman of the Central Manchester Private Hire Association, said: The M.E.N. has been fantastic, achieving virtually overnight what we have sought over the last few years."
The plans will now go out for consultation before being referred to the licensing committee for final approval.
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