PRIVATE hire drivers are pressing Harlow Council to change its licensing system so that all cab drivers can become hackney carriage licence holders.

More than 30 private hire drivers attended a meeting of Harlow Council's licensing committee last week to call for a ruling that grants only London-style black cab drivers hackney carriage vehicle licences to be scrapped.

Harlow is the only town in Essex to operate the practice, which limits the number of black cabs in the town to 55.

The current ruling also means minicabs cannot use the bus lanes, taxi ranks, or tout for business, meaning they can only pick up fares through the cab company's control room.

Cabbie Mo Bishop, who has worked in the taxi trade for 28 years, told the Citizen that the only way to get a hackney carriage licence is to pay in excess of £15,000 to a retiring black cab driver to 'transfer' his plates.

Mr Bishop said: "Harlow Council is operating a restrictive practice on the hackney carriage trade and it is totally unjust.

"It is effectively operating a closed shop and it means the people of Harlow are not getting the service they deserve."

He added that because minicab drivers could not pick people up on the street and there were a limited number of black cabs, many people were left without any way of getting home, especially late at night or during the early hours of the morning.

"The new councillors at the town hall need to know that this is happening and seriously need to look into making this a level playing field for all cab drivers."

Speaking after Thursday's meeting, licensing committee chairman Mark Gough said the council was looking into the licensing rules.

He said: "This is a long-standing issue and something that has caused a lot of difficulty and bad feeling between cab drivers over the years. This is something we are looking to change."

January 29, 2003 09:00