Council agrees to up engagement with taxi and police officials to ensure future cab driver safety

A council has upped its engagement with taxi and police representatives to help ensure cab driver safety in the region, following a recent assault on one of its locally licensed cabbies.

Following the recent incident in which a Burton based taxi driver was assaulted, Councillor George Allen, Leader of East Staffordshire Borough Council, invited Staffordshire Police and local Councillors to discuss how the Council can help protect taxi drivers and members of the public.

Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Mr Ben Adams and Chief Inspector Scott Gidman, were invited to Burton Town Hall last week to meet with Councillor George Allen, Councillor Paul Walker, Councillor Syed Hussain and Councillor Arshad Asfar who had raised significant concerns about a recent incident in which a local taxi driver was assaulted.

It was agreed East Staffordshire Borough Council will meet regularly with the Police and representatives of the taxi trade in East Staffordshire to see how collectively they can protect both taxi drivers and law abiding members of the public.

In addition, the Council will be running a communications campaign to highlight issues around appropriate behaviour when using taxis.

Councillor George Allen, Leader of East Staffordshire Council, said: “I was delighted to meet Staffordshire Police and local Councillors to discuss this issue. It’s vital that members of the taxi trade feel safe when they are working and I look forward to our continued discussions over the coming months.”