Taxi drivers given vehicle safety advice during day of police checks

Neighbourhood safety officers teamed up with licensing officials from Dacorum Borough Council to stop taxi drivers in Berkhamsted.

Taxis operating during the day on Wednesday, April 1, were checked for compliance with the law and the terms of their licenses.

Ten taxis were stopped, of which three drivers were given advice about tyre wear and three drivers were given warnings about minor taxi licencing offences, such as badges not being worn and expired fire extinguishers.

One vehicle was found not to be in a suitable condition to operate as a taxi, as it had damage from a previous collision, and the driver was advised not to use it until repairs have been carried out.

The operation was led by PC Tony Knibb from the Berkhamsted and Tring safer neighbourhood team.

He said: “All in all the standard of the drivers and vehicles were found to be very satisfactory, particularly for the Dacorum registered vehicles which was encouraging and a testament to our regular stopping of these types of vehicles in the area.

“The ultimate aim of doing this is to ensure the public are safe in these vehicles and, on the whole, they met with the required standards.”

Legal governance manager at the council Mark Brookes said: “Enforcement operations of this type, carried out in partnership with the police, help us to identify potential safety risks and deal with them.”