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Torbay dual taxi driver suspended for three months after speeding offences and licensing failures
A Torbay taxi and private hire driver has had his driver’s licence suspended for three months after failing to report three speeding offences and repeatedly failing to provide information requested by licensing officers.
Torbay Council’s Regulatory Sub-Committee reviewed the case on 10 September 2026. The driver had accumulated nine DVLA penalty points from speeding offences committed on 2 April 2024, 1 January 2026 and 8 May 2026. He had not notified the licensing authority of any of them.
Councillors also heard that officers had repeatedly requested a DVLA check code as part of routine compliance checks. The code was supplied only after the driver’s licence had been suspended with immediate effect. That earlier suspension was lifted shortly after he provided it.
The driver said he had missed emails and did not usually answer calls from unknown numbers. He said he had mistaken a licensing officer’s call for a sales call. The committee found that explanation difficult to reconcile with the number of attempts made to contact him.
Councillors noted that the driver had renewed his licence several times and had confirmed that he had read and understood Torbay’s taxi and private hire policy. He told them that he had last read the policy 10 years earlier.
The committee considered his failure to report all three offences, alongside his lack of response to officers, a significant departure from the standards expected of a licensed driver.
The committee acknowledged his 20 years in the taxi trade and the absence of passenger safety complaints. It found that the evidence did not justify revoking his licence, but concluded that a further sanction was needed.
The three-month suspension will take effect after the statutory 21-day period. The driver must also complete a RoSPA Defensive Driving Level 2 course within three months, provide evidence of completion to the council, familiarise himself with its taxi and private hire policy and keep a copy in his licensed vehicle while on duty. No action was taken against his private hire vehicle proprietor’s licence.
