Police clamp down on non-compliant minicabs and taxis in London

A roads and transport police operation clamped down on multiple non-compliant private hire and taxi vehicles in London. With the help of Transport for London (TfL) the Metropolitan Police Roads and Transport team conducted checks on vehicles in Islington.

“Operation Globe” pulled over a total of 110 minicabs and 46 taxis over a two day period for spot checks. Of those checked, 37 private hire vehicles were found to be non-compliant and 15 taxis failed to pass all police checks between 2-3 August. Offences reported on private hire vehicles included: 

• Use of a Handheld

• Dangerous Condition (sharp edge)

• Defective Tyres

• Driver Not in Position to have full view

• Unrestrained children (Driver not working)

• Incorrectly formatted Number Plates

Offences reported on licensed taxi vehicles included: 

• Defective Tyres

• Improper use of the Horn

When explaining how police chose the vehicles for the spot checks, a police spokesperson said via Twitter: 

“On the stop sites it’s a lot of looking for the right cars to stop and picking ones we think will generate work. Other times it is random stops depending on what’s coming down the road. “Doing mobile patrols it can be more intel based, current MOT reports or obvious defects.” 

Image: Met Police (Twitter)