TAXI drivers and private hire operators have been at war since the controversial experimental weekend evening ban on traffic in Warrington town centre came into effect.
The closing of Lower Bridge Street on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings has meant taxis and private hire vehicles have been forced to compete for limited road space in Academy
Way.
Police and “taxi marshals” appointed by the borough council have managed to prevent serious incidents.
But there have been “flashpoints” between the two sets of drivers.
The closure is part of the council’s strategy for combating anti-social behaviour in the town centre and a progress report will be considered by the licensing committee next week.
The report says there has been, historically, a long-standing poor working relationship between Hackney Carriage drivers and Private Hire drivers.
Predictably, this has led to “flashpoints” as drivers have competed for the limited available space in Academy Way.
For the first three weeks of the experimental ban, four taxi marshals were provided in Academy Way and worked well to eliminate disorder in taxi queues.
However, the introduction of the marshals was – and still is – opposed by Hackney Carriage drivers, the report states.
After three weeks, the marshals were withdrawn – and immediately there were allegations and counter allegations from both sets of drivers, accusing each other of acting unlawfully.
As a result, two marshals were reinstated on a temporary basis to allow time for a resolution of the problems.
However there were problems funding the marshals and in the long term they would be unsustainable.
Councillors are due discuss the issue next Wednesday, October 8.
