Taxi drivers dodge district's strict safety checks by exploiting legal loophole

And the problem is "out of control", according to the owner of one cab firm.

Some local cabbies are deliberately getting their licences from other local authorities rather than from Bradford Council.

This means Bradford's licensing enforcement officers, who often carry out spot safety checks on cabs, have no jurisdiction over these drivers.

It also means the cabbies can get lower motor insurance premiums, compared to Bradford's high prices, licensing bosses believe.

And other local authorities also have different standards for drivers' criminal records, vehicle safety and other licensing criteria such as whether cabbies have to sit knowledge tests.

Many drivers are getting their licenses from Rossendale Council in Lancashire, a rural area which has no upper limit on the number of hackney carriage licenses it will give out.

Stuart Hastings, the boss of private hire firm Metro Keighley, said he refused to take on drivers who had Rossendale licenses, but he estimated there were 30 to 40 Rossendale drivers in Keighley alone.

He said: "It is out of control."

Mr Hastings said there was a perception that the licensing regime was less strict in Rossendale than in Bradford.

Khurram Shehzad, the chairman of Bradford Private Hire Liaison Service, said he disapproved of the practice of using Rossendale licences.

But he said drivers were doing so out of frustration with Bradford's strict licensing rules.

He said: "I don't think it is a good idea, but the council is forcing drivers to go there, because they are so heavy-handed."

Licensing bosses first started spotting the Rossendale cabs around two years ago, and it is now believed that around 80 drivers in Bradford hold these licences.

But the practice is entirely legal - hackney carriages licensed for one area can lawfully operate as private hire cars anywhere else in the country.

Councillor Brian Morris (Ukip, Keighley West), a former taxi driver, said he was very worried that the safety of the public was being put at risk by a "stupid and ridiculous" law.

He said: "If a Rossendale taxi driver, or any other out-of-town taxi driver, comes and works in Keighley, how does the public know that the man sitting behind the wheel is the man who has actually got the licence? They don't.

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"Can Bradford's hackney carriage enforcement officers ask them that question? No they can't.

"Can they stop them? No they can't."

Bradford is not the only local authority affected by the problem.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said it was taking the issue very seriously, and that in the past year, Bradford had arranged and hosted meetings with other local authorities to discuss the matter.

The authority is now working with Rossendale Council so that Bradford's officers can be given delegated powers to at least enforce Rossendale's rules on any of its drivers they stop.

And the police are also able to carry out safety inspections.

Bradford Council principal officer Geoff Binnington said: "Council officers will continue to work in partnership with the police to make sure drivers licensed by Bradford remain compliant with their conditions and those who are licensed outside of Bradford are using vehicles which are safe for the travelling public."

A spokesman for Rossendale Borough Council said it set high standards for taxi drivers, who had to pass a stringent medical check, criminal record check and 'fit and proper person' test.

He said: "Rossendale Borough Council's taxi licensing procedure is extremely robust."

Rossendale has 1,200 licensed hackney carriages in total, for its population of 65,000.

In contrast, Bradford has just 222 hackney carriages, for a population of more than 500,000.

Councillor Simon Cooke, deputy leader of Bradford's Conservative group, said the key question for him was whether the safety of the public was being compromised.

And Councillor Dominic Fear (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley), said he was concerned that people who wanted to complain about a taxi driver wouldn't know where to turn if they weren't licensed by Bradford Council.

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