Out-of-area cabs 'cutting work by half'

Many cabs in the city come from areas with cheaper licences

Taxi drivers say loopholes allowing out-of-town cabs to pick up fares in Worcester have slashed trade.

By law, private hire cars can ply their trade anywhere in the country, outside of London, no matter where they are licensed, but have to be booked in advance.

One hackney carriage driver in Worcester said a rise in those vehicles had seen his business halved to fewer than 10 trips a day.

"They get more trade than we do because they can go all over the place," Ghalib Hussain said.

"It’s affecting my trade by at least 50%. It’s affecting the people who work at night even more."

While hackney carriages can pick up fares anywhere in the country if they are pre-booked, they can only be hailed by passengers or wait in ranks in the area that licensed them.

However, a rise in app-based systems has made it increasingly easier for passengers to book private hire vehicles, no matter where they are in the country.

The law means private hire vehicles can be licensed by any council, no matter where they operate

Worcester taxi driver Shaqat Hussain said: "Uber paved the way for this sort of thing, they take private hires from anywhere and place them anywhere."

Last month, a Freedom of Information request revealed a third of drivers operating in Manchester had been licensed by the City of Wolverhampton Council.

There are believed to be just over 36,000 private hire drivers with a Wolverhampton plate – equivalent to about 13% of the city’s entire population – leading it to be dubbed the taxi licence capital of England.

It costs £330 for a private hire licence in Worcester, whereas the annual fee in Wolverhampton is just £95.

'Different standards'

While not naming Wolverhampton, Richard Udall, who chairs the council’s licensing and environmental health committee, said out-of-town taxi drivers did not hold the same standards as those licensed in Worcester.

City of Wolverhampton Council has repeatedly denied it has acted improperly by licensing large numbers of cab drivers who operate in other areas.

"While we have never actively encouraged applications from drivers outside the city, existing legislation requires that if an application is submitted and requirements are met, then the application must be granted," a spokesperson said.

"The council may not refuse an applicant simply because they live in a different area."