CRB checks keep Guernsey taxi drivers off the roads

Delays in a new system for checking the backgrounds of Guernsey's taxi drivers have left six of them off the roads since New Year's Eve.

Geoffrey Savident, president of the Taxi Owners Federation, said a delay with Criminal Records Bureau checks in the UK had left drivers out of work.

He said issuing temporary licences in the meantime had been ruled out.

Mr Savident said: "It's frustrating where you've got drivers who want to work but just can't."

The checks can take up to 80 days to process and Mr Savident said drivers were only informed of the new requirement for applying for a licence at the start of November.

Public Service Licences, needed to operate any vehicle that carries members of the public, are issued in four-year or one-year blocks and expire at the end of calendar years.

He said the affected drivers had missed out on one of the most lucrative nights of the year and were still unable to work.

Mr Savident said: "The buck is passed all the time... it's the Guernseyman sold up the river we're all coming under UK legislation."

Taxi operators are licensed by the Environment Department and must abide by the conditions of their road service licence.

No-one from the Environment Department has yet been available to comment.