'Unsafe' Pendle taxi company's license revoked

Councillor David Clegg, who chairs the Taxi Licensing Committee at Pendle Council, has confirmed that UK Cars had lost its appeal against the decision to revoke the company's license after they appeared at Burnley Magistrate’s Court this week.

“We have to put the safety of passengers first and we take a tough stance on this," Councillor Clegg explained. “I’m pleased that Burnley Magistrates Court has upheld our decision.

“As a council we have a zero tolerance attitude to operators whose cars are unsafe," he added. “Taxi firms must make sure their taxis are safe every day."

UK Cars now has to pay Pendle Council over £3,500 in court costs, with Neil Watson, Licensing Manager at Pendle Council, saying: “The standard of UK Cars’ vehicles has been unacceptably poor; they didn’t make improvements despite our very clear warning that they needed to.

“They took this appeal to court instead of accepting responsibility and making sure all their cars are always safe and roadworthy,” he added. “We have written to UK Cars as a matter of urgency today to inform them they must cease operating immediately.

The chairman of the Magistrates’ Court who heard the case said that a Mr Chaudhry, trading as UK Cars, had held a licence for many years, but that he had ultimate responsibility to ensure that his vehicles were roadworthy at all times to preserve public safety."There is no evidence that he fulfilled his responsibility," the Chairman said. “It is not sufficient to wait for the MOT testing of the vehicle: this falls short of the requirements of a fit and proper person acting as an operator."Following the decision to uphold the decision to revoke UK Cars operator’s licence, UK Cars’ solicitor has informed the council that her client will now begin a further appeal against the decision of the Magistrates’ Court to the Crown Court at Burnley.