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Black cab drivers hire security guards to see off illegal minicab drivers
Miranda Bryant10 Feb 2010
Black cab drivers have hired security guards to prevent illegal minicabs taking their business.
They are recruiting “taxi marshals” to stand at their ranks and escort passengers to licensed cabs as they come out of bars and nightclubs.
Customers can also wait with the trained guards, who wear fluorescent jackets bearing the word “security”, if there is no taxi immediately available.
The initiative by London Cab Drivers Club — which represents about 1,500 taxi drivers across the capital — operates on Thursday and Friday nights outside West End nightclubs Nobu and Tiger Tiger.
But LCDC said it wants to roll out the scheme at 12 “touting hotspots” across the capital — with Abacus and Smiths in the City and Walkabout on the Embankment likely to be next.
The scheme is being funded by LCDC, but its chairman Grant Davis said the scheme has been so popular with drivers that he has received cheques from them.
The organisation is looking for sponsorship from drinks companies and clubs to help fund the scheme.
Mr Davis said the war between illegal minicab and black-cab drivers had increased to the point that the measures were needed to protect drivers and customers from touts.
He said: “Cab drivers have been facing real abuse and intimidation with the recession as illegal minicabs become more desperate for business. As soon as people get out of clubs they get pounced on by touts.
“The poor black-cab driver has to sit there at the rank while the customer walks away through the jungle of touts. There is a war on the street — that's why I've acquired security.”
He said the response from customers and drivers since the scheme started last week had been “fantastic”.
The taxi rank at Nobu was introduced last year after a demonstration by cab drivers. About 8,000 black-cab drivers stopped their cars and blocked the streets of Westminster in protest at the West1 minicab scheme which they said was taking their business.
Since the TfL-funded Cab Enforcement Unit was set up in 2003, the Met has made 5,500 arrests in relation to illegal minicabs.
Reader views (28)
addison lee all the way....friendly asian driver and a very clean vehicle. spot on...
ensleigh place to hyde park fixed at £11
blACK cabs taxis cost anything beetween "15 and £22.
- ally richards, euston london, 07/07/2010 03:55
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This has not been correctly reported. The taxi marshals are there to stop illegal touts and doormen from attacking the licensed taxi drivers when they legally stop outside popular clubs and bars on taxi ranks to pick up customers. Taxi drivers are being beaten up and verbally abused by illegal minicab touts who think that they can stop and pick up custormers anywhere. We are only trying to protect our trade which has been around for 400 years. Long may it live on.
- Richard, LONDON, 21/02/2010 19:29
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myself and my wife
have been going to the theatre in london for years.
and we always use the black cabs and have always found them to be helpful and respectful.the onetime the hotel we stayed at ordered use a minicab it was £4 more than a black cab which we all ways use.and the minicab driver had to stop and ask for help on the way never again. black cabs win hands down for us.
- Mr D Franks, Hitchin, 11/02/2010 22:38
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To Amir of London i can give you another two words for Adisson Lee and that is RIP OFF.
Slower than a Black Taxi and not any cheaper.
- Mr S.Port, London, 11/02/2010 01:33
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Dear Timmo,
Great effort, just think once you've completed The Knowledge and invested 3 years of your life learning the trade, you won't have to work for that Minicab company you're currently at.
It's also good to see the same old Taxi hating names that appear on every single article that concerns the London taxi industry.
I'd buy a lampshade for your bare bulbs, the moths are getting their feet burnt.
GBC
- Gbc, London, 10/02/2010 22:23
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Pb - how is it a monopoly when private hire vehicles outnumber Taxis in London by more than 3-1? (app 21,000 taxis vs 70,000 PHVs.)
The enforcement teams should be doing the work the security guys are doing, but too often the touts are welcomed by the venues, some of which have "satellite booking offices" inside. Unfortunately most of them do not operate inside the venue, preferring to use a clipboard man on the pavement.
Even these seemingly legitimate operations tend to operate illegally by asking the public if they need a taxi. The terms of their operating license prohibits this as touting. The customer should approach them and it should only be inside the venue.
Also, they are not supplying you with a taxi, they are getting you into a minicab, so don't be misled into thinking you'll be getting a driver with any sort of extensive knowledge of London's streets and venues.
As for pricing please don't believe the myth that Taxis are always more expensive than minicabs.
Example of a job from Abacus nightclub in Cornhill last weekend. Canary Wharf £20.80 on the meter (including a while sitting in traffic due to a closure of the East India link) - touts wanted £30.
And don't forget that a lot of minicab firms have a minimum price. Not so cheap when you are only going a short distance or have to phone an 0844 number to book a journey.
- Ed Long, Rochester Kent, 10/02/2010 19:59
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First Timo says the plate was fake and second the receipt was a fake. so why take it out on genuine London cab drivers?
There is NO such thing as an official receipt so how can there be a fake.
The last time the "normal price" to NW London was £35.00 was a number of years ago.
Licesnsed London taxis do not compete with opposition on price but on the safety and security of a Licensed vehicle.
Next time Timmo travels from Heathrow, I suggest he phones up his usual rustbucket firm to come and collect him!!!
More like though, Timmo himself is a fake!!!
- Ken Sinclair, London UK, 10/02/2010 17:22
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Two main issues here
- Police again not enforcing the law.
BUT no sympathy for Black Cab drivers as
- Black Cabs in London are incredibly expensive, with terrible drivers who win first prize for rudeness and arrogance.
Best result would be licensed cabs which you have to book - that would get rid of two sorts of low-life off the street (unlicensed drivers and Black cab drivers).
- Mm, london, 10/02/2010 16:42
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2 words... Addison Lee
safer than a minicab...cheaper than a black cab
- Amir, London, 10/02/2010 16:33
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One question, why are the police and TFL not enforcing the law and ridding the streets of these illegal NON Pre-Booked Mini Cabs?
- Robert Jackson, London, 10/02/2010 16:23
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Timo, can ask which mini cab firm you work for .because what you say could not happen,if as you say you took a licensed taxi from Heathrow T5, the taxi would of had to of gone through what is called the feeder park.to access this a driver has to have a tag which issued to the badge & bill(license) of driver ,then he would have to pay £5 to go through the gate which would then show his badge number on a screen.After this he would wait for anything from 2 to 4 hours amongst maybe 400 cab drivers & a place where the PCO often make inspections on taxis,then after this go
through another barier which displays the drivers nos before being dispatched to a terminal to which on arrival
would then go through another barrier before
picking up a job.So you see this would almost impossible to pass through all this with a fake plate.
As for your fake receipt ,I take it you mean the printed
type and not the written type,if so this would be linked to
the meter which is sealed by the pco & registered to
the taxi.
So Timo before you make another slur against the LICENSED TAXI TRADE I suggest you go away and do
your homework.
- Michael, Bromley,Kent, 10/02/2010 16:02
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I can't honestly believe some of the stuff i am reading here. Every one has had a bad experience of maybe thinking they paid too much. At the end of the day the fares are set by the TFL not the black cabbies. The point of this is stopping illegal mini cabs and why shouldnt they. How would any of us like it if somebody came into our office sat at our desk without being employed and then walked off with a % of our salary! If the police done their job would be no need for this. And to pb - what competition? There isnt any - if you want to ply for hire on the streets of london you have to pass the knowledge and become a black taxi driver, end of story! If any body does not wish to use a black taxis get your mobile out and pre book a mini cab but do not have a pop at black taxi drivers for only trying to apply the law and stop their living being stolen. 15-20 rapes per month by illegal mini cab drivers!
(that is only the reported cases) Get the point of what is trying to be achieved here. The black taxis are doing nothing wrong and they are not breaking the law, the illegal mini cabs are.
- Pjb, London, 10/02/2010 13:33
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Or they could just stop ripping people off and they would get more custom.
- Jacqui Smith'S Dvd Collection!, Hackney, London, 10/02/2010 12:54
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i regularly use both. the thing is the drivers that stand outside clubs and restaurants are the ones who give the local mini cab drivers a very bad name. when i go out in London i never use the men who stand outside and are regularly verbally abused when i jump in a black cab. there is a huge mis conception that the black cab is a little dearer but 75% of the time its not because the driver gets you in the quickest and shortest possible route due to having done the knowledge. a great example was when i was quoted £70 from leicester square at the booking office to Putney! got in a black cab straight down the Kings Rd, £28 thank you very much.
- John, London, 10/02/2010 12:51
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Illegal minicabs using illegal immigrants driving in many cases illegal cars, of course they may be cheaper.
Unfortunately there is not enough being done to stop them from being on the road, and with TFL selling thousands upon thousands of licences to other mini cab drivers , the future is bleak for the black cabbie.
- Mr S.Port, London, 10/02/2010 12:50
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Timo - Shouldn't you be having a go at the illegal cabbies rahter than the black cabs? what vehicle the criminal used is irrelevant. The fact is this procedure is trying to stop people like yourself being ripped off and put in danger by illegal cabs.
- Steve, London, 10/02/2010 12:32
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Would never use black cabs as they are a rip off, Adisson Lee every time for me they text you the plate number of the vehicle so no one else nicks your cab, and tell you by text when its waiting outside for you, oh and the price is set when you order.
- P Staker, London, 10/02/2010 12:26
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I used to take cabs regularly every week between home and Airport. A 15m journey most of the time... Black Cab on average £18 ... and grumpy moaning drivers due to short trip. My local cab firm would happily pick me up for a tenner... no brainer really!
- Sanjay, Hounslow, UK, 10/02/2010 12:09
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I have used this rank already at Tiger Tiger Last Friday night on the Haymarket and it was great I felt vey safe and secure as a lone female,these gentlemen were very polite and knew what they were doing.I wish there were more of these.I was taken to an awaiting taxis straight away.
- Janet Mcgrady, bexley kent, 10/02/2010 12:09
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Annie from croydon you have completly missed the point of the article.
We all use cabs in our local areas but if you was in the west end and was approached by a man claiming to be a taxi would you get in I doubt it.
What this has put in place is a safer enviroment for women to stand with the security guard whilst the taxi pulls on to the rank.
And also with the security in place the ranks don't get over run with touts.
We at the moment are getting over run by illegal mini cab drivers in London so as a taxi driver should i put my badge and bill on the line to ask a tout to move of the rank which could end
up in a row.
In just one week the security has made working the two ranks a much safer enviroment fir men and women drivers and the public
- Paddyo, London, 10/02/2010 12:07
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I used this rank outside Nobu on Friday evening,Nobu cars quoted me £20.00 for a cab to Strawberry Moons on Regent Street I decided to use a Taxi from the rank instead and the fare came to only £7.00
now who are ripping us off?
- Fay Mac, bromley kent, 10/02/2010 11:59
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Black cab drivers are licensed bandits, I use them only occasionally and then for short journeys.
Anyway, when did they have the right to hire a private army, and don't we as citizens have the right to not be "escorted" by some mindless thug to their "preferred" cab driver?
- Kerry, Purley, 10/02/2010 11:53
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So black cab drivers can now bully people on pavements as well as other road users?
- Londoner, London, 10/02/2010 11:47
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NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN BLACK CABs !!!!
I got ripped off by a Black Cab from Heathrow Terminal 5 to NW London.
Normal price ~35pound, i had to pay 90pound!
His plate was FAKE, his receipt was FAKE... (transport london told me)
DO NOT USE BLACK CABs !!!
Go to registered private hire! --> and you know befor you start how much you have to pay!
- Timo, London, 10/02/2010 11:37
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At last.It's a good idea.
The west-end is plagued by these touts who don't know directions, are often aggressive and charge way over the odds.
It is the illegal unlicensed mini cabs we are talking about here , not your local minicab firms.
Why would you want to pay £70 from Euston to Sloane Square to travel in an uninsured vehicle where the driver doesn't know his way around, when you can pay £20 and get there safely.
- Ww, London UK, 10/02/2010 11:34
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As a juror who sat on a rape case involing an 'illegal cab driver' and who abscounded before sentence, (8 years)
I welcome this move. Yes it is hard for the cabbies today due to the crunch, but most of these people are not only illegal drivers but also illegal immigrants. They also have the excemption badges, some are bad copies which I have seen, but just look at the rate of rapes done by these people and if you are a womam you would feel much safer. Yes there was a black cabbie rapist, one bad apple etc, but to see and hear the harrowing case of a young girl raped by this dreg, makes me more inclined to support their move.
- Richard, London, 10/02/2010 11:17
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Bunch of bully thugs, i will always use my local mini cab.
- Annie, croydon, 10/02/2010 11:01
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Oh come on, give us some credit. This is nothing but using hired muscle to protect a monopoly position.
Having a load of goons in fluorescent jackets to scare away the competition is just distorting the fact that the reason people get into dodgy cabs, is because black cabs in the evening are a complete rip off - and thats when you are lucky enough to find one for hire!!
- Pb, London, UK, 10/02/2010 10:04
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