CABBIE FINED FOR CARING: London cabbie hit with £60 parking charge while helping elderly passenger outside Brentford home

A London taxi driver has been issued with a £60 private parking charge after stopping outside an elderly passenger’s home at Brentford Lock Island.

Gary Taylor said he was dropping the resident outside her flat in Tallow Road, Brentford, when the charge was recorded. An image shared by the cabbie appears to show the taxi stationary while the passenger is being assisted from the vehicle.

Taylor said: “Got a parking charge of £60 for dropping off an elderly resident outside her flat in Tallow Road Brentford.

“I’ve had my appeal rejected even though clearly not parked, was clearly assisting a passenger.

“Never saw any signage explaining no parking on private land.”

The Brentford Lock Island website⁠ warns visitors that parking permits are required and that enforcement is handled by an outside contractor.

It states: “Parking Permits are required or you risk a parking ticket. Get a parking permit from the Concierge Desk. Ticketing is contracted out so we can’t interfere with the ticketing process once you have a ticket. Be aware!”

However, the concierge office is only open daily between 7am and 7pm. The website says residents should be able to open the development’s gates remotely when the concierge is closed, but its parking guidance does not explain on the page how a taxi arriving outside those hours should obtain a permit.

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A Brentford Lock Island information document for tenants says drivers of taxis, minicabs and vans must not leave their vehicles unattended unless they are in a visitor space with a valid permit. It also says vehicles failing to comply with the development’s regulations will incur a parking charge.

Taylor’s case raises a wider problem for taxi drivers entering privately managed residential roads. Restrictions on private land can differ substantially from the rules cabbies encounter on the public highway, while the boundary between the two is not always immediately apparent from the driver’s seat.

On public roads, taxis can generally stop briefly on single or double yellow lines while passengers board or alight, provided a separate stopping restriction does not apply. Government guidance⁠ confirms that vehicles may stop while passengers board or alight on yellow lines.

Licensed taxis are also allowed to pick up and set down passengers on most London red routes. However, Transport for London⁠ says drivers cannot stop on sections marked by a wide red line, at pedestrian crossings or on zigzags. Waiting beyond the time reasonably required for a passenger to enter or leave the vehicle is not covered.

Those public-highway exemptions do not automatically override contractual parking controls imposed on private developments. Drivers entering private estates may therefore face a charge despite undertaking an ordinary pick-up or drop-off which would have been permitted on many publicly maintained roads.

The risk has already led to warnings about other privately controlled access routes. In January 2024, the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association issued an urgent instruction telling drivers not to enter Sopwith Way in Battersea because of the risk of receiving a parking charge.

The LTDA warning reported by TaxiPoint⁠ told drivers to leave passengers on Queenstown Road and arrange alternative meeting points for app bookings until the situation changed.

Such avoidance measures can leave elderly, disabled or mobility-restricted passengers further from their destination. They also place drivers in the difficult position of choosing between providing door-to-door assistance and risking a charge from a private parking operator.