TAXI drivers are in the spotlight in High Wycombe following the conviction of 32-year-old taxi driver Paul White for indecently assaulting two female passengers.

The case of Mr White, also known as 'Cookie' of Hillside, High Wycombe, has raised questions over the safety of passengers as they travel in taxis often alone, often late at night.

Such cases may be rare in this area, but it comes as a new report reveals that a ride in a taxi may endanger our safety in other ways.

Police and district council employees carried out a three-hour spot-check exercise last week on taxis.

The disturbing study showed that eight out of nine taxis failed to abide by licence regulations.

Offences against the regulations included missing identification badges and the absence of a fire extinguisher in the vehicle.

During the exercise on April 28, one taxi registered to Chiltern District Council was found illegally plying for hire in High Wycombe.

One Hackney Carriage and one Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) had their licence plates confiscated by the officers.

Owners of seven of the Wycombe District Council-licensed vehicles caught in last week's clampdown, will be called before the licensing authorities to receive a formal warning.

Of 90 South Bucks, Wycombe and Chiltern district council-registered Private Hire Vehicles stopped by police since December, 70 were found to be at fault.

According to a WDC spokesman, the most serious infringements relate to drivers in unlicensed (and therefore uninsured) vehicles and drivers.

In these cases it is council policy to institute legal proceedings.

Broadly speaking, vehicles for hire fall into two types. Hackney Carriages -- black cabs -- are licensed by the Public Carriages Office in east London. Private Hire Vehicles, on the other hand, are licensed by local authorities.

While Hackney Carriages are able to stop for passengers on request, Private Hire Vehicles must take bookings in advance and are not allowed to ply for trade on the street or at public taxi ranks.

A spokesman for Wycombe District Council's environmental services department, which regulates the PHV trade in the district, said: "It is true a high proportion of vehicles and drivers checked do not comply with some of the requirements attached to their licence.

"However, the majority of these are relatively minor infringements."

According to the spokesman, the most common infringements are not displaying driver identification or failing to display a vehicle licence plate.

The environmental services department is empowered to withhold licences from people who have certain types of criminal records or are medically unfit.

Mohammed Asad is the secretary of the High Wycombe branch of the Transport and General Workers' Union, which represents 90 per cent of the 42 Hackney Carriage drivers in the town.

Mr Asad says he also represents the interests of the Private Hire Vehicle operators.

He told the Bucks Free Press: "If we find anyone working outside the regulations we take it very, very seriously.

"We warn the driver to do the job the way he is supposed to and then we talk to their bosses and report them to the council."

Mr Asad said his members welcome the spot-checks, which he says go some way towards scaring off unlicensed operators and those licensed to operate only in other districts.

He adds: "We've always welcomed them because it helps us drive out the cowboys.

"We're proposing the council carry out further checks and more stringent checks and stamp this out because it's affecting our business.

"Our objective is to keep the customer happy at all times."

However, he admits some taxi drivers complain they are stopped by police for very trivial faults, such as a broken light above a number plate.

They also object to spot-checks being carried out on a Friday night, as detection of any physical fault may mean being off the road at the weekend -- peak earning time -- until the garages are open again for repairs on a Monday.

Mr Asad estimates that there are currently 175 Private Hire Vehicles operating in the district.

He said: "We reckon there must be at least another 50 on top of that who are operating in the area without any kind of licence."

Referring to the joint clampdown exercise which was carried out on April 28, PC Peter Hare of Amersham traffic police, commented: "We carried out the exercise in High Wycombe between the Wycombe District Council offices and the police station which isn't the best place to be plying for hire if you are not abiding by the rules of your licence."

Mr Asad has urged anyone who has a complaint about a taxi or an individual taxi driver within the district to get in contact with him on 0468 428 024.

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