Telford taxi drivers to face tougher tests

Taxi drivers in telford will now undergo specialist road safety training

Taxi drivers are to face tougher tests to get their licences under new rules being introduced in Telford.

Those drivers will now undergo safety training before taking a stricter knowledge test as well as a practical exam on the road.

TTC Group, employed by Telford and Wrekin council to test drivers, already delivers national speed and drink-driving awareness courses.

The firm said it would improve driving safety and standards of behaviour.

As part of their training, new taxi and private hire drivers will be asked how they would deal with some of the challenges and scenarios they may face during the course of their job, including reporting crashes.

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Andy Wheeler, business development director at TTC Group, said the training would improve driving safety and standards of behaviour.

Carl Phillips, commercial manager for public protection at the council, said the changes would create "an improved, more streamlined process" for drivers and offer them better training than many other local authorities across the country.

The council has recently been training taxi and private hire drivers in how to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation, with an independent inquiry currently investigating the extent of the issue in the town.

Last month, neighbouring Shropshire Council was praised by anti-child sexual exploitation charities for introducing more rigorous tests for its licensed taxi drivers while the government announced plans to create a national database of drivers' licensing histories earlier this year.