Councillor urges women to come forward after ‘troubling anecdotes’ relating to taxis emerge

A concerned Plymouth councillor has asked to hear from women who use the city’s taxi service after hearing several ‘troubling anecdotes’ relating to the safety of women in the city.

Last week the council put out a message warning residents that Plymouth City Council (PCC) had received complaints about drivers refusing to take customers to outer parts of the city, overcharging and some hackney carriage drivers not using their meter.

Several troubling comments were made as a result of the post on Facebook. Councillor Charlotte Holloway, Plymouth Labour’s spokesperson on Violence against Women and Girls, is now urging more women to come forwards to tell their story.

The Facebook message posted by PCC read: “The vast majority of licensed taxi drivers in Plymouth look after their customers and make sure they get home safely. They are all vetted, enhanced DBS checked, have had safeguarding and ambassador training, for instance.

“But unfortunately, a small minority can let the others down and if you've had a bad experience, we can do something about it. You need to take down details so we can investigate.

“Lately we've received some complaints about drivers refusing to take customers to outer parts of the city, overcharging and some hackney carriage drivers not using their meter.

“We've also had reports of drivers refusing multiple drops within the city boundaries.

“This is not on and we will not hesitate to take formal action against these drivers.”

Several comments were posted allegedly reaffirming the concerns the council had.

According to the Plymouth Herald, the councillor is now hoping to understand the scale of the issues.

The council went on to tell passengers to make a note of vehicle registrations or licensing plates located at the rear of the taxi or private hire vehicle if they experience problems, before getting in touch with the council.