Bristol taxi protest causes city centre disruption

Taxi drivers have been fined by Bristol City Council if they have continued to operate in the area around the Hippodrome since the rank was removed

A go-slow protest staged by taxi drivers caused travel disruption on roads in Bristol city centre.

The drivers are unhappy with the removal of a taxi rank outside the Bristol Hippodrome theatre, which they say was critical for trade.

The protest caused lengthy queues of traffic and delays to journeys.

Bristol City Council said it removed the taxi rank because it was an unsafe location and that drivers should use alternative locations nearby.

Bus services were also affected by the protest with First Bus saying it caused extreme delays to all services around central Bristol.

The protest caused long queues in rush hour traffic before coming to an end at around 10:30 BST

Saif Hussain from the Bristol Blue Licensing Taxi Association (BBLTA) says they should be able to wait outside the Hippodrome as before.

"We've been picking people up there for about 30-40 years and I've never heard of an incident of us causing an accident and we're not the only people who use that area, you've got private cars and all sorts of taxis from other authorities," he said.

"They do more work from there than we do and they've never been asked to move," added Mr Hussain.

Taxi drivers are calling for the rank at the Hippodrome to be brought back into use

Bristol City Council removed the rank last year and said it has worked with taxi drivers to put a late-night rank 50m away from the Hippodrome and a larger one by the cenotaph.

But Mr Hussain said that moving the rank further away made it unsuitable for blind and disabled people.

It is the third time that taxi drivers have protested the removal of the Hippodrome rank which they say was the second busiest in the city before it was removed.

Bristol City Council issued 350 fines to taxi drivers using the area outside the Hippodrome in August 2021.