New council unlikely to renew Berwick licences held by outside cabbies
News admin | Mar 25, 2009 | Comments 119
DOZENS of Berwick-registered taxi drivers are unlikely to get their licences renewed by the new unitary council.
The move is likely to affect taxi drivers from outside Berwick borough rather than those who ply their trade locally.
Licensing officers are currently drawing up plans for a unified hackney carriage licensing policy for the whole of Northumberland.
They are keen to avoid a repeat of the controversy caused by Berwick Borough Council’s decision to issue cheap licences to taxi drivers from all over the region.
That policy prompted several mass demonstrations by Tyneside-based taxi drivers who claimed their livelihoods were being risked by the flood of Berwick-registered drivers touting for trade.
The move towards a unified licensing policy was approved by Northumberland County Council’s executive committee last week.
Victoria Barrington, the council’s head of public protection (designate), said: “No cap on the licensing numbers is proposed for the new authority, however it is envisaged that many of the new licences currently held in Berwick may be refused under the new council’s policy.”
The policy is expected to result in a drop in licensing income of around £40,000 compared to this year.
A High Court case brought by Newcastle City Council recently found that Berwick’s hackney licensing policy met with the letter of the law but not with the spirit of the law.
Costs were awarded to Newcastle City Council and Berwick has since paid counsel to develop a new hackney licensing policy taking the judgement in to account.
The Northumberland Licensing Officers Group is developing the policy for the new authority and will be carrying out consultation with current licence holders and Newcastle City and North Tyneside Councils in the near future.
“This should result in Northumberland having a legally sound policy with which to move forward under uniform enforcement procedures,” said Ms Barrington.
It is likely that the policy will need to address the licensing of a significant number of operators within the Tyneside conurbation as the proximity issues are removed because of the shared boundary.
“There will likely be resistance from some parties to the new council’s emerging hackney carriage policy,” conceded Ms Barrington.
“However, if the consultation is thorough and the policy legally sound then it is recommended that we ‘ride out the storm’ and move forward quickly to formal adoption to remove all uncertainty from both other regulators and the taxi trade,” she added.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Northumberland Consultation on Draft Policy
- Pile ‘o’ Poop
- Berwick/Northumberland situation: Questions Answered
- David Wilson on Enforcement
- Northumberland Hackney Carriage Intention of use Update
Filed Under: Berwick plates
NEWCASTLE PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS ASSOCIATION
FINGERS CROSSED EVERY ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Lets all pray to god and the bandits who are currently driving the bandit taxis can go back and hide in their caves.
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Well said Sir.
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I think we should take a leaf out of Deva Kumarasiri, he’s the sub-post master who thought it was imperative all his customers spoke English to stop queues building up. Imagine if taxi drivers and customers done the same, i,e a customer had the right their driver spoke English and licenced by the council that car was booked from And the customer spoke in English to the driver or just put your meter on as soon as they get in and try to speak to you in broken english, they’ll soon learn English when they see the meter ticking away.
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Norman Fisher Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 10:17 am
@Brian N. Peterson, “TRUE TRUE BRIAN;; (LETS HOPE ALL THESE OUT OF TOWN BANDIT TAXIS HAVE ALL REGISTERED WITH THE INLAND REVENUE I MY SELF HAVE TO REGISTER LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE ) TAXI OPPERATORS HAVE TO BY LAW HAVE TO INFORM ALL TAXI DRIVERS WHO IS OPPERATING AT THEIR OFFICE SO IVE BEEN TOLD OFF MY LOCAL TAX OFFICE …LETS HOPE THIS IS THE CASE………. SO WHATCH OUT ALL YOU BERWICK BANDITS, AND DERWENTSIDE, SOUTH SHIELDS, SUNDERLAND,DURHAM,CHESTERLEE STREET,GO TO YOUR OWN AREA WHERE YOU ARE LICENCED FROM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I think berwick council should be massivley bollocked because not only have they issued far too many plates knowing that they were working else were PH they are now going to put alot of people on the dole.
Not that I’m saying I want the bandits to stay. I can’t wait to wave them off but there are some sound out of town drivers who unfortunaty have getting caught up in a whole load of shite.
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john dodds Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 4:28 am
<In answer to your comment concerning PH drivers,formerly on Berwick plates,being put on the dole due to non reissue of the license.
This is NOT the case,all the `drivers` have to do is replace the `mickey mouse`plate with a proper PH licence in their own area,unless that is there is some reason why the LA has already refuses the said drivers application,in which case,DO WE want them on the road at all….bearing in mind,the first and overriding priority of any council MUST BE that of Public Safety.
These drivers,took a gamble and exploited a loophole in the Law,for their own financial benefit,wheather it damaged other peoples business or not,their attitude being one of `I`m ok jack…sod you lot`,well it appears the gamble hasn`t paid off,how sad.
I have no sympathy with them….its like you going into a casino and putting all your cash on roulette,and loosing,you dont expect the casino to be sorry for your bad luck,or bad judgement,and return your money….do you.
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I agree Brian its just bad buisness sense to have drivers who dont speak even basic English it just looks bad for the operators and i think it would loose them trade.
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Brian N. Peterson Reply:
March 29th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
@Shining Light, I wonder if thats why a certain company in Wallsend (not mentioning any names here but starts with B and ends in LUELINE) has lost a lot of business in Wallsend, the town it operates from and which the people who live there built that company up to what it is today, but now choose not to use due to the large number of out of town plates and drivers with no sense of direction.
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Speaking to a friend of mine today who has worked at the well known taxi firm that begins with B and ends with Lueline for a number of years says people in the eastend, the people who built the buisness have gone eleswhere because they just dont want to be picked up if an Ethnic driver is driving,people just dont like it i dont know how the operators cant see it,its just very bad buisness sense.
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yes ian shanks i would like to see the back of all the bewick plates not just yours every ones plate and put up back on a leaval playing field
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I cant wait for the Berwick plates to end so we can see
what you clown’s blame next for lack of trade.
I guess I put my hands up, I flimped on Friday morning about 4.30 am.
I was driving through the metro centre in front of tyne tees tv when a 17 year old lass waved me down looking totally distressed. I stopped and picked her up, she had got a Newcastle Hack from the Big Market at
2.00 am, and the driver threw her out when the meter hit 30 quid cause
he got lost on the way to Sheriiff’s Hill. I dropped her at Gateshead
Police Station and she had the driver’s details. So hopefully one less dodgy Newcastle Hack driver on the road.
This is the third case of this I’ve had this year.
And you think Berwick plates are your problem! The problem is a majority of people will not get in a hack car because they dont trust them. There’s too many horror stories of Newcastle Hack’s taking the
absolute mick.
The proof is the amount of people that will wait an hour for a private hire car when there is a rank right in front of them. You lot think it’s because the private hire is cheaper, it’s not it’s because it’s SAFER!
My personal experience, three taxis from Toon this year, long hauled on
two of them.
So roll on the end of Berwick plates and you lot might wake up to reality when your business doesn’t improve one little bit.
You know when your sitting on a rank say ‘Pilgrim Street’ and there s
say twenty of you not moving and you look across at the Fire Station
and see a constant flow of people waiting for Private Hire’s from many
different offices does something not click in your head and say, ‘Why are they waiting when we are here?’
Because people are sick of being ripped off. Your problem’s not Berwick, BlueLine, flimping, it’s YOU! The public perception of the
Newcastle Hack trade stinks and you’ve only got yourselves to blame.
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NEWCASTLE HACK DRIVER Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
@RealityBites,Im a hack driver & do here these stories to.But there,s good & bad on both sides of the fence as it,s been pointed out so many times on this site.
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i can agree there realitybites
about three years ago on a sunday night me and my wife had A NIGHT OUT IN TOWN (very rare for us indeed)as my car was broken so i did not work that night or the week after that was an expensive week.
Anyway the trip home tells a tale !! i phoned blueline who i drive 4 and could not get a car so we walked to the rank at the gate and got in to a hack to go home he made all the right moves to get to my house (well done him ) but there was a big dispute in the fare he wanted to charge me i live 5.5 miles from the city center top his meter off at £26.40 on tarriff 2/ Ah and sattitude and driving was a lot to answer for aswell, when challenged about the massive fare he says i have to pay it. i said ok i just need a signed recipit with his badge and plate no on it and no suprise he refused to give me one so i said i wont pay then and got out his cab and went home. about 15 mins later the police knocked at my door asking me to pay the driver i then explain to the police what went on and i was in the trade with my broken car parked in the street and showed him my badge when i told him the fare was worth aprox £12 and if it were on my meter it would be about 6 – 7 pounds i was willing to pay with recipt with hes details on it it turned out the cab had 2 bald tyres the driver was an illegal body no driving license or insureance as it was his cussins cab he got arrested i did write to newcasle council but not got a reply
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i can agree there realitybites
about three years ago on a sunday night me and my wife had A NIGHT OUT IN TOWN (very rare for us indeed)as my car was broken so i did not work that night or the week after that was an expensive week.
Anyway the trip home tells a tale !! i phoned blueline who i drive 4 and could not get a car so we walked to the rank at the gate and got in to a hack to go home he made all the right moves to get to my house (well done him ) but there was a big dispute in the fare he wanted to charge me i live 5.5 miles from the city center top his meter off at £26.40 on tarriff 2/ Ah and sattitude and driving was a lot to answer for aswell, when challenged about the massive fare he says i have to pay it. i said ok i just need a signed recipit with his badge and plate no on it and no suprise he refused to give me one so i said i wont pay then and got out his cab and went home. about 15 mins later the police knocked at my door asking me to pay the driver i then explain to the police what went on and i was in the trade with my broken car parked in the street and showed him my badge when i told him the fare was worth aprox £12 and if it were on my meter it would be about 6 – 7 pounds i was willing to pay with recipt with hes details on it. It turned out the cab had 2 bald tyres the driver was an illegal body no driving license or insureance as it was his cussins cab he got arrested i did write to newcasle council but not got a reply
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firstly i’ll answer mouse,
well over charged, 2 bald tyres, no licences, no insurance, his cousins cab, and he STILL rang the police eh? quite convienient eh?
realitybites,
well mate, i’ve got no problem with helping a distressed woman no matter where she is! Yet in 6 years of driving a taxi, i have never come across one. heard people who have, but you sir, three so far this year! And ALL have had the horror ride home in a newcastle hack, and the driver was it dexter morgan on the badge or his cousin?
well maybe we can have a say back now eh! i charge whats on the meter, no more no less, and i have lost count of the amount of times i have been called a robbing … it’s not that they hounestly believe i’m robbing them, it’s just it’s part of there night. never believe what someone tells you who has been on the drink all day! let me guess they were all sober eh?
let me tell you another ’story’, i picked a girl up taking her to the liquid (when it was ikon) she was telling me that the taxi driver the week before raped her, she didnt know that i knew who she was, many years ago me and a pal had trouble with two lasses, one of them constantly rang my mothers house threatening me that is was going to get stabbed off her cousin, my sisters usually got the message, even though they wernt out of junior scholl at the time. i’m good at remembering thisngs like that …
… but the moral of the story is, this is what your dealing with, people who fantasise, poeple who verbally assualt drivers, or physicly try to assualt them as part of there night out … the amount of HORROR STORYS by hackney drivers, or experienced myself over the years, would simply crash this site!
but drivers like you, believe everything, are always in every convienient place, see everything … EXCEPT YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS PICKING UP UNISURED IN THE CITY CENTRE!
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Yeah your right mate,
Lasses all over Newcastle are walking around industrial estates
so they can fantasize about a Hack dropping them off??????????
I am no mug, and can read through the BS, but you lot stick your
heads in the ground without addressing your own back yard and you will
find this out when the Berwick plates stop and your takings dont go
up a penny.
Because the general Newcastle Hack lack of service, direction, and expense, on top of the fantasy horror rides everyone makes up has ruined your business. Why is there all this private hire work in
the town yet ranks are full????
So I hope everyone keeps on fantasizing and making up horror stories and I ll be at the Fire Station this weekend picking up all the fantasists that have rang the office and all the Hack plates on the rank opposite can watch, get paranoid about us flimping and ask the question ‘Why aren’t they using us?’
So once again roll on the end of Berwick Plates cause I can’t wait to
see who your gonna blame next because you all ruined your own business.
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andy warhol Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
@RealityBites,
I’ll tell you why there is so many private hire in the city centre, flimping! Ahhh i still remember those 3 weeks after the ’sting’ last june, private hire were freightend to flimp for a few weeks, and guess what, NO private hire parked up on every street, the access in and out the city was easy, no private hire blocking one lane, racking up a cugstomers bill, and we had QUES on our ranks for the first time on a friday in a long long time.
THATS EVIDENCE, of just how bad it is, so dont give me all this crap, your telling me operators dont get complaints abouts drivers going the long way, or overcharging! And i repeat, a FLIMPER, acting illegally does not give a toss about hiss passenger or how much he charges them!
the Berwick scenario is just one factor that is damaging our living, the more out of town plates FLOODED the offices the more drivers had to turn to ILLEGAL means to make a living. to be hounest i would rather the berwick scenario wasnt a hack problem and that no one flimped, but the reality is when it was a PRIVATE HIRE problem NOT ONE of the pjrivate hire lads took the intiative that the hackney trade did and tried to stop the problem, they all just SAT BACK, did as they WERE TOLD by there operators, lumped it and whinged to each other about it!
So i will repeat what i have said before, I DONT CARE ABOUT BEWICK PLATES, providing they do as they are meant, work there offices and NOT pick up illegally in the city! But we all know that dosent happen does it!
Good luck to trawling industrial estates for distressed girls, you will probably be up to double figures by june!
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who are you getting at Hacks, ph, bantit plates yyou really dont make it clear Andy.
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andy warhol Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
@Kinred spirit,
basicly i’m having a go at
– the operators who took on so many out of town plates, they forced there hounest loyal drivers to start looking at illegal ways to scratch a living.
and we all knew those who opted for a berwick plate wouldnt play by the rules as they were meant.
– the berwick drivers and private hire drivers who continue to ply there trade ILLEGALLY in newcastle city centre, stealing a living from those who have the RIGHT to earn there living by plying for hire!
– newcastle city council who are FULLY AWARE of the situation and how bad it is, but continue to sit on there hands and do nothing while the public continue to get ripped off in unisured private hire and out of town plates posing as hacks!
– all the ‘private hire or out of town hacks’ who continue to come on here, with absolutely not ONE shred of evidence, implying that the hackney trade is full of moronic, aggressive, robbing sexual predators! and continue to make accusations that most hacks drive on others badges, and some of these accusations border on complete absurd to blatant racism! Perhaps it is THESE PEOPLE who should not be in the trade!
– all the private hire drivers who continue to protest that the hacks are paranoid, and that flimping is not going on! even the great man himself said that the problem was MUCH worse than he thought!
i could go on all night,
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George Richardson Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
There is one point i would like to very clear the guys driving berwick licenced vehicles in newcastle are not from berwick if you cross reference their licences to their names and addresses you will find they come from newcastle wallsend gateshead poland latvia and other far flung corners i have driven a hackney i berwick for over 20 years and have never picked up of the street in newcastle unfortunatley we are taking the flak for a clown in a suit employed by the council.
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Lol…
Your a funny man….
Them two weeks in June you were busy because as everyone has witnessed
as soon as enforcement turns up the number of cars on ranks drop by 50%. Hmmmm I wonder why?
If you guys did your job properly why would someone bother ringing and waiting for a private hire. So you guys just keep up the good work. All the offices have waiting times now on a weekend so who has time to flimp.
Just carry on with the delusional paranoia and doing nothing about the way your colleagues lose you business and we’ll get on with getting everyone home safely, quickly, and at a fare price.
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andy warhol Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
@RealityBites,
firstly apologies to kinred spirit, it appears i’ve been replying to you and not realitybites.
right mate, 50% of hacks disapeared, why? THEY WERNT AFTER US YOU PRATT! And, the other weekend, the one before the delegation met coniclor shipley, they were out for us, was there any great difference to the week before, no!
so theres MY evidence, wheres yours, how can you tell me that 50% of hacks do a bunk when the enforcement are out! cause if you know anything about the hackney trade, then you will know that we have our badges and lights cheack regually by the enforcement, so why then have i only seen for 3 weeks after the STINGS, ques on hackney ranks on a friday night in the past 2 years!
so come on, i’m intrigued, as to how YOU know that 50% do a bunk, how stephen knows so many of us sit in and watch saturday night takeaway while our cousin drives the car … do tell …
and lastly, maybe if all the office cars STAYED at there bloody offices at weekends you wouldnt have ques!
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@Kinred spirit,
and like i said good luck to trawling industrial estates for distressed girls,,,
but be warned, the police have a name for that …
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Am133 Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
@andy warhol,
Pmsl well said Andy
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andy warhol Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
@Kinred spirit,
you see kinred, my opinion is that people like you, stephen, amongst others, are unable to claim hacks flimp on a grand scale, or that we nick your jobs from your addresses, cause we dont do we. and you know it.
you’re unable to put much weight behind the cherry picking argument, as this is demonstrated ALL over the countrie, but is such a small percentage it’s not worth dealing with. and anyway as said a hack can refuse to go out his borough, so your argument is worth sh..
so that doesnt leave you lot with much to try and discredit the hackney trade, yes some people will be overcharged, taken the wrong way, sometimes in error, and some attitudes are questionable, yet ALL these things can be applied to private hire.
so lately there has been more ’storys’ of violence, assault and abdustion, WITHOUT so much as a SHRED of evidence! And more of you Morons are jumping on bandwagon! what would ian do if the hacks started to print stories on here on numerous BLT drivers and serious allegations WITHOUT a shred of evidence!
let me tell you wally’s some more stories,
1) a friend was attacked by a lady in the back, going along scotswood road, saying he was going the long way! She had designated that route and not the west road, the driver suffered scratches around his eye. the same lady the following week tried to get in his car with her friend, he wouldnt allow it and told her why, she said that she would never do that!
2) 3 women bumped me twice to highfield, same crack each time, the third time i asked money up front, they got out and into the car behind, so i got out to tell him the crack. i seen the driver later, and he said that they got out cause i was trying it on with them all the way last week, so he still wanted money up front, they had 6 quid between them!
3) another friend was accused, and arrested of assaulting a passenger with a weopon, this even went to crown court, on the day of the trial, cctv showed up and the prosecutions solicitor said that it showed his client was telling lies, obviously the cctv backed the drivers claims of events. the police sergant in the case was giving a dressing down by police for not showing this earlier, he said he didnt think it was important, even though it showed the driver was telling the truth. the case hoyed out!
now, what do you think these peoples versions of events were to there friends and family the next day?
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Kinred spirit Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
@andy warhol, I think you are getting the wrong end of the stick Andy i dont really know what you are bleating on about, my gripe is how the Ethnic minority have taken over our great trade and dragged it down to the gutter they have no patter no local knowledege,can you imagine a tourist just arriving in Newcastle, jumps into a cab be it a hack or ph and asks the driver to tell him about the history of Newcastle the driver would probably give him a blank stare and reply no sir but i can tell you all about Pakistan or Poland or whatever country they come from.
Thats my gripe.
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NEWCASTLE HACK DRIVER Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 1:53 pm
@Kinred spirit, AS Ive said before there,s good & bad in every walk of life.Be private hire or hack driver.AND WHETHER THEY BE BLACK OR WHITE.So this sort of crap you want to keep to your self as it does not helpthe trade one bit.And for your knowledge a lot of these asian driver,s have been in the trade for over 20 years.
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@RealityBites, Hackney Carriage Drivers don’t set the rates that they charge, just like you don’t set your rate. You are also being ripped off.You charge five year old rates and pay current rent!
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Sorry guys,
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Public Perception
of the Newcastle Hack trade, everyone’s fantasizing or telling lies.
And the 1000’s of Private Hire calls that come out of the town each week is by no means proof that there is something wrong with your business.
I am just confused at why 1000’s of fares a week would go to the
hassle of ringing a PH, having to walk to a meeting point, wait in the
cold, when there is a queue of Newcastle Hacks straight in front of them.
They must be dellusional like all the fantasists, liars, and exagerators, because there ’s absolutely nothing wrong with the public perception of the Newcastle Hack trade.
There was a run a few years ago on investing in ostrich farms???????
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 4:36 pm
@RealityBites,
please answer this,
if the private hire trade is SOOO good, then can you please explain to me why so many take the chance every weekend and flimp to make a living?
And dont say this doesnt happen, ask Ian Shanks, who himself admits that he didnt relise the extent of the problem. ask Newcastle Enforcement who in two 4 hour stings have caught over 10 cars each time. ask any of the 230 hack drivers that protested
blocking the civic centre, or the many that couldnt be there for whatever reason. Ask the people who were standing in the taxi que in the bigg market (before christmas) and everytime the police left the que ABC and BLT drivers were pulling in and picking up from the que! ask concillor shipley, who has just recently had a second meeting with a delegation of 12 from the hackney trade, on how other cities deal with the problem! ask the UITA, who the organisers of have spent so much hard time and effort – free of charge to the trade – fighting for better enforcement! pull up and ask ANY hack driver!
so ask ANY of these people that you like, realitybites.
but if all these people think that ‘flimping’ is such a large problem in newcastle city centre, then why IF so many customers opt for private hire, then so many of there drivers prefer to make a living illegally?
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There’s no talking sense to you, as always the Newcastle Hack head in the sand approach, ‘We’re not doing wrong everyone else is!’
You fail to recognise you have some real issues in your end of the
trade that has opened doors for the Private Hire business and if you
took the time to concentrate on improving the service of Newcastle Hacks rather than crusading that every Private Hire in town is flimping
you might get some where.
How can cars from offices be constantly flimping when you’ve got
considerable wait times at every office during peak periods whilst there are still queues and queues of Hacks sitting on ranks?
You just refuse to answer the question,
Why would the Public rather go through the inconvenience of booking a
Private Hire when they can jump in a Hack car right in front of them?
Can enforcement, Coun Shipley, your delegation of 12 Hack Drivers, anyone just answer the question. It’s got nought to do with
Flimping, Blueline, drivers making an illegal living.
I hope counsellor Shipley rings all Private Hire offices and gets the number of jobs BOOKED from the town and maybe give the customer a ring and ask ‘Why did you wait 1 hour for a Blueline Taxi on Saturday night when you could of got a taxi of one of these fine 12 delegates of the newcastle Hack trade?’
The answer would be won’t use a Newcastle Hack, Don’t trust them.
And what the Hell has that got to do with Enforcement, Flimping, Blueline, Blocking the civic centre.
Its public perception of your business that is hurting you not millions of Berwick Drivers running around town without any bookings pulling in front of twenty Hacks on a rank to flimp a fare right in front of them? ? ? ? ? ?
It’s pointless continuing this banter, you just get back in the pen with the other 780 Ostriches, cut out all the Berwick plates, flimping, enforce everyone to hell, and we’ll see hardly any improvement in your business at all, because public perception won’t have changed a bit and Private Hire bookings in town will just get stronger and stronger.
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Private Hire East Coast Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 8:52 pm
@RealityBites, your head is in the sand mate or don’t you care that every week more cars come on.We just got told that our company is putting a cap on the number of cars working here and i’ve just found out they’re starting another five on monday,that’s five more cars to share my work with,that’s reality mate. I’ve been PH for a lot of years and everyone has always called the Hacks,your all so busy calling the Hacks that you don’t see what’s in front of your face.More cars, more rent,less work.
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hallowed ground Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:22 am
@Private Hire East Coast, Yep, never trust the Ginger Whinger.
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john dodds Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:42 am
@RealityBites, Dont trust hacks to do what exactly.
Also,tonight I quoted 2 girls approx £30 to go to Ashington,they turned round and said they would wait for BLT as they had quoted £18/20 for same job.
Now the reason people are passing the hacks and getting P/H,whether legally or not is due to the difference in fares.
£11.50 at 3am from central stn to whitley bay
£18/20 at 1.30am wed from munchies in the haymarket to Ashington
£18/20 from pilgrim st to Nevilles cross in Durham
£12.00 from central stn to the nook in south shields….need I go on.
These sort of fares when fuel has just gone up to cheapest is 98.9 per litre,£4,50/5.00 per gallon,if the public didnt take this cheap fares idea,as BLT say,2 passengers can get a taxi cheaper than public transport,which I may add,is heavilly subsidised through your council tax,I would be amased.
I was even told by 1 driver,who supposedly did over £100 on wednesday night,that he thought it was great £100 in his pocket,when asked about fuel,wear and tear,maintenance,tax,test…all the usual off takes,that that wasnt his problem.
Be you a driver or owner,we all have the same running costs to pay,I admit the fares should not have gone up last september,BUT,running on low fares like some of you do,is worse again,how you make a living and pay costs.
I guarentee you dont get cheap insurance,tax,or fuel…..(unless you make your own of course).
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SC Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
@john dodds, As a PH driver i can make money on lower fares by not doing dead miles, not sitting around town all night waiting for people to go home, when I go to work my car is moving and making money. Yes fuel has gone up, but it is still cheaper then last year when the hack put their rates up, if you want to compete on price why was the not a protest to reduce the rate when fuel came back down?
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john dodds Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:38 am
@SC, actually you would be surprised at the number of us(hacks) that did protest to the council over the increase last september,that as i said should never have gone ahead.
Thanks to 1 or 2 multi plate holders,who were more intent on justifying high bits for their cars,that the increase of 7.5% went on.
The council i`m sure would have their arguement too for the increase.
I agree our fares are too high,BUT,if you can persuade the council to drop them,be our guestand alot of us would back you.There is however a difference between a reasonable rate and an absurd rate,taking into account maintenance,fuel,running costs and what have you.If you charge people the bus fare for a taxi to town,of course people will take advantage.Joe Public`s attitude is if your daft enough to charge 40p a mile,then joe public will pay you that.Its down to you estimation of what your worth.
Fares as low as some are charging tell people that either your on benefits or your a cowboy out for a quick buck. Proffesional people are paid as such.
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
@RealityBites,
private hire are busier as they have a lot more jobs running round the doors, private hire have always done 2 or three jobs to a hacks one and always will do!
i’ve answered your question so stop dodging and answer the question,
IF OFFICE LIFE IS SO GREAT THEN WHY DO SO MANY CHANCE FLIMPING!
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
@realitybites,
and dont give us any horses**t about hacks not knowing there way, after all we have passed a more in depth knowledge test.
and hacks and ph have both passed the same crb checks, and IF a driver has a questiuonable attitude he will have it NO MATTER hackney or PH.
again answer this, do PH offices get complaints about there drivers, of course they do! some are reasonable complaints, most are not! its the same on the hacks, except, the majority of our work is taking people home from the city when they are intoxicated, so there recolition of events and attitudes are questionable sometimes!
and IF your immplying about the large aisan factor on the hacks, then ‘pal’ maybe you should stop reading the Sun, and ask yourself ’should i be doing this job?’ after all we all have to sign a declaeration regarding discrimination …
… and one final point, if your deep rooted hatred to anything hackney is towards the aisan contingent, ten let me tell you this, i would rather spend an evening with most of these guys than in your company!
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Ex-Ncle Hack Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
@Andy Warhol, thats a joke in depth knowledge test for newcastle its to easy.also i knew alot of good asian lads on the hacks sound blokes but also knew alot of bad too bragging abt ripping people off and not using there meter but i suppose some PH offices have the same type of drivers but its alot harder to do on PH and easier to complain to a PH office jobs being recorded etc.
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SC Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:44 pm
@Andy Warhol, what percentage of car in the average office do you think flimp?
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 5th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
@SC,
you couldnt say, some are far worse than others i.e noda, gateshead central, abc, blt, lansdowne.
@Ex-Ncle Hack,
i to think that the locality test is too easy, read through many past posts, but was merely pointing out to a buffoon that he has no right to mock a hackney drivers knowledge as they HAVE passed a harder test than the private hire.
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Andy,
You’re an insult to your fellow Hacks and the trade.
Playing the race card like that is bang out of order to the asian hacks that are out there and to myself. It’s people like you that make race an issue and breed racism.
You are a joke!
As for the flimping?
If a Private Hire car is tracked and he doesn’t pick up where his job says and go where his job says well it’s a flimp. Yeah fine jobs may change but the office is going to know who is at it and who isn’t. So to a degree it’s the operators who should be working with enforcement.
Generally I think over 90% of PH’s don’t have the time and wouldn’t risk flimping, however, I have seen and understand how one flimp snow balls into one hundred. A PH driver’s job gets hacked, his job doesn’t turn up, in the mean time someone else knocks on his window, takes the next driver’s jobs, etc etc etc etc.
But to me it is Private Hire hacking other Private Hire work, still doesnt change the fact why don’t these people get a Newcastle Hack?, and if you think price at 3.00 am in the morning is the only issue, you’re wrong.
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MOHAMMAD Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
@RealityBites, ANDY DOES NOT PLAY THE RACIST CARD Very sorry not been on this site before now.But felt as if I had to come on in defence of Andy Worhol as Im a Asian hack driver & have read his past postings on this site with great intrest.In my opinion there has never been not one racist remark by him on this site & that realitybites is trying to undermine the intelligence of this man for being able to debate intelligently and speaks honestly & openly about the trade. As pointed out by Andy only the private hire have anything to gain by making the hack trade look bad n.Not the other way round.
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 5th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
@RealityBites,
enforcement dont have to work with operators, they have the right to walk into an office an look at job sheets, bookings anytime they wish! enforcement should do there job, and offices comply!
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Its not a case of playing the race card the fact of the matter is 99% of women out on the town are very worried about getting into the car if it is an Asian driver,and thats a true fact,thats why booking a ph is very popular and a safer form of transport home.
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SC Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:45 pm
@Nordic Spirit, its nothing to do with what race the driver is, its simply a case of them trusting the office that they use and feeling safe knowing that a record of which driver they have has been made
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Nordic Spirit Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:57 pm
@SC, all am saying is which is a true fact women dont like Asians driving them home late at night FACT
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hallowed ground Reply:
April 4th, 2009 at 12:07 am
@Nordic Spirit, FACT? Absolute bollocks. FACTS can be backed up with research. Show us your research or stop making such stupid, sweeping statements.
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Nordic Spirit Reply:
April 5th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
@Nordic Spirit, OK i will back it up with facts when asking my wife would she feel safe she said no, when i asked my sister in law she said no, when i asked my friends wife she said no, when i asked my recent female customer she said no.So that was 4 women asked all said no they wouldnt feel safe, so infact that 100% FACT.
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Am133 Reply:
April 5th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
@Nordic Spirit,
Thats the problem with statistics you asked four people out of a city with a population of how many ??????
Same as government they ask as few people as possible and come up with un realistic results to back up whatever crap they are trying to spin.
Majority of people i pick up male and female dont care were the drivers from as long as he has a decent level of knowledge of the area and can get them more or less to were they want to be , once they are in the general area they dont mind having to direct the driver to there door !
What people do not want to have to do , male or female is direct a taxi/ph the whole way from town turn by turn !!!!!
Then you have the people that are so smashed they dont care if its a taxi/ph,boy racer U.F.O ,horse and cart or if the drivers black white green orange or blue with pink dots as long as they get to were they wanna be.
I agree with admin your statement is very narrow minded and poorly thought out, as has now been said on here time and time and time and time again there is good and bad in ALL races religions sexualitys etc, i know some great asian lads on the hacks some are third generation born and bred here and are just as Geordie as me !!!!
One more thing about a year and a half ago i had stopped near Haddricks mill (hazardlights on)at the side of the road for a quick smoke before heading back in to town about 4 or 5 asian hack drivers stopped to ask if i was ok not one in less then 5 minutes but not one white driver hack or ph stopped !
My point is there is some good asian lads out there they shouldn’t be judged on the fairytale stories that are thrown around the ranks and ph offices by small minded people.
Am133
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Admin Reply:
April 4th, 2009 at 1:05 am
@Nordic Spirit, which hat did you pull 99% out of? If that were true 99% of asian drivers in this country would be bankrupt by now.Your statement is extremely small minded and ill thought out.
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 5th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
@Admin,
its laughable isnt it, no wonder women who use ph would feel unsafe in a hack late at night, as its clear by the stories being fed to them by some of these ‘pioneering’ private hire drivers!
lets hope one day one of these people give there ‘factual’ opinion to the wrong customer …
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ok 98%
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Spoke to a Berwick Plate driver and his licence was renewed on Friday – no problem. I am a NT private hire driver with a Berwick badge as well. So no problem then?
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@Nordic Spirit, OH Well, I’m surprised that you are a Taxi driver with such an in depth knowledge of statistics,but if you put a petition in stating that ‘women don’t feel safe with asian drivers’ I don’t think the signatures of your lass,your mates lass and your mates mates lass would carry much weight…Do you? My lass and my mams brothers cousins lass don’t like getting in Private hire cars so lets get rid of them all shall we?
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Nordic Spirit Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
@Admin, Lot safer than a hack buddy
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
@Nordic Spirit,
come on then enlighten (and humour) us as to HOW exactly you know this?
coz from my point of view, if we say newcastle area, BOTH private hire and hacks have passed the exact same CRB, and vetting process! the only difference the hacks have taken a more difficult locality test!
also, on a busy weekend, most of the taxi ques in the city centre have cctv on them, as thats where the trouble stems. but it could also be used to track a driver or vehicle, and has been before, i.e where someone has attacked someone and used a taxi as a ‘gettaway car’
I’ve done private hire for 2 years, and hacked for 4, and yes its true, you do get more ‘trouble’ on the hacks. its not due to the driver though, it’s because a lot of the people who we pick up have been drinking to excess, and know that they will probably never see you again so feel they can treat you and your car as they wish.
but back to the ‘angels’ private hire, maybe you should ask that lady from ponteland who got in a berwick plated private hire and was charged in excess of £40 and taking the complete wrong way to go to ponteland (it was in the sunday sun) or maybe the people at the nursing home, who witnessed the private hire driver from a large newcastle office, having handpartys in there carpark (chronicle that one). Or the lady who was sexually assaulted by a taxi driver from powerhouse, only to describe the car as white!
so dont come on here, telling us that you have all the facts an figures by talking to a few friends and family who clearly dont have ANY clue of the hackney trade, or much more of an iq than you!
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Nordic Spirit Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
@Andy Warhol, PS i nearly forgot picked a hen party up on Sat from Wales took them to Jesmond from town £4 when asked how the fare was so low because the night before they stupidly junmped into a hack (Asian Driver)and was charged wait for it £15 eh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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@Nordic Spirit, More Statistics??
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Nordic Spirit Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
@Admin, ph is more accountable, every job logged(unless you are a Bewrick Bandit and flimp)and this harder Knowledge test, the one that Metro used to have all the answers for, cost a fiver, or the one that if you cant speak English you can take a enterpretur in and he or she will do the test for you.
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
@Nordic Spirit,
actually your wrong once again, metro had various routes and bars in newcastle, but was still way short of the hack test.
put it one way, if you studied that, and that alone, you WOULD fail! I was asked a lot more routes, librarys, churchs, monuments… once again, your ‘knowledge’ of all things hackney is flawed!
and show me the evidence on here of being able to take an interpreter, come on smartarse, post up here the exact terms and conditions if it’s allowed! or even how you know this as fact!
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
@Nordic Spirit,
firstly, wheres youre evidence that it was a city of newcastle upon tyne hackney carriadge, and the auld, they knew everything apart from the plate number does not wash! coz he was aisan?, what are there NO ph aisains? no gateshead hacks that are aisan!
and if you think it’s just berwick plates that flimp in newcastle then your vision is even more tainted then i relised!
why dont you except that no matter what job, in what country there WILL ALWAYS be those who do the job right, and those who dont and take advantage from politics, to police, to hotel staff, to wait for it taxi drivers! and you cant weed the good from the bad by looking at the type of plate on the vehicle!
now you can continue to post whatever rubbish you like on here, discuss whatever you wish you like with your family, who for not using hackney carriadges have a ‘vast’ knowledge of the trade, but the sensible people in the world, and there is many of us, will see through your posts and you for what they are.
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@Nordic Spirit, Surely a Taxi Driver must be able to speak English in this Country and if not,why are English speaking Taxi drivers letting this happen?
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Andy Warhol Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
@Admin,
good point admin, as we all know the lax system that berwick have been handiung out plates to drivers with god knows what on there crb and very limited knowledge of the north east, to go and work as private hire accross the region. yet he has the nerve to accuse hacks of lack of knowledge or being acting ill toward the passenger, yet he allowed (along with numerous other ph) this situation to grow to the beast we see today!
nordic spirit,
maybe at your familys next tea party you may wish to explain this to them, and explain why no private hire drivers bothered to drive to berwick to protest, or round the civic to protest, or arranged meetings with licencing or councillors, DO YOU NOT CARE WHO TAKES YOUR FAMILY HOME? as it’s clear the hackney trade do!
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@Andy Warhol, Some of these people like to spread mis information,to what end I don’t know.In the end all things Taxi related affect all drivers PH or Hack and anyone going against the grain is in fact making things harder for themself..in the long run.
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sorry if i have already missed it, but i hear a certain mr shanks is buying up berwick plates. my first thoughts are.. he is looking for loopholes in the law. where does greed end ? ffs ian, get yourself away on a holiday with the ginger muppet (one way ticket preferably) and spend your dosh, the world economy needs you !!!!
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the Ginger muppet & his 2 side kicks where last seen trawling the north coast of france recruiting new drivers,as rumour has it…..
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In response to the comment that people dont trust hacks in town because we are a training ground for rip off artists.
You may well be richt to a point,as was stated else where,there are good and bad in all trades,in Newcastle the only drivers that get any mention tend to be the `cowboys` that speacilise in fleesing people or making uninvited advances to passengers. We never hear about the drivers that do the job properly,and there are a lot of us.
If you want to blame anyone for the complete chaos we have in Town,unlicensed cars,uninsured cars,drivers and all,the two main culprits for this mess are the Police,and Newcastle council.
Before anyone gives me the usual bullshit that its not the problem of the Plod,let me just say this,`using or allowing a vehicle to be used on a public road,without the required insurance cover,IS a moving traffic offence and therefore does come under the remit of the Plod.
As for the Council,the attitude they seem to have of `we dont give a f..k,is rather a stupid road to take,since if any member of the public is injured or worse,due to their incompetance,in licensing enforcement,or in our case `lack of`,I wonder what they will do when someone takes them to court for compensation.
Also,we hear all these horror stories from passengers,and while most are fact,I always ask the same questions,1) did you clock the plate number,or reg number of the car
2)did you ask for a receipt,a signed one
3)did you notice the drivers badge
after this,i ask if the person has a mobile phone….usually yes,did you use it….usually no.
IF the person who has been `done` cant be bothered to ring for help.personally i say they deserve it…due to letting a runt get away with it.
MY final comment is usually if they know they are getting taken for a ride,ring 999 and get plod,I know most people say that rogue cabs arent an emergency….yes they might be,and going back to my work with HM coastguard,we put it down to a call out with good intent. If its sorted..ok no harm done….if not and help is needed,as i tell people..dont think..DO IT.
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can i just point out that the majority of drivers who are berwick plated ….. and in fact ALL the berwick plated drivers that i know personnally …. have got these so called ” bandit ” plates for one reason and one reason only ………………………. to save money on the costs of a plate from the likes of north tyneside and newcastle councils ! NOT TO FLIMP OR IMPERSONATE A NEWCASTLE OR NORTH TYNESIDE HACK … BUT TO SAVE MONEY IN THESE HARSH ECONOMIC TIMES . i fully agree with all you local hackney drivers , the drivers that are flimping should have their plates and badges revoked immediately ! but don’t tarn us all with the same brush just for trying to save a few quid !
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Andy Warhol Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
@a berwick plated driver,
firstly,
the times wernt so harsh when all of this kicked off!
secondly,
it’s been PROVEN time and time again that the amount of money saved isnt worth the effort.
2 reasons why there is so many berwick plated cars, and why it’s been ecouraged by some.
1. to pass it’s self off as a TAXI in Newcastle, and no need for an office (i’ve seen plenty of them over the past two years!)
2. FORCED DEREGULATION!
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Am133 Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
@Andy Warhol, Well said mate looks to me like that was shanksys plan from the start
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a berwick plated driver Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
@Andy Warhol, YOUR LIVING IN CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND IF YOU THINK THE TRADE HAS ONLY BEEN IN DECLINE FOR 2 OR 3 YEARS MATE !!!! MY TAKINGS ARE NOW HALF WHAT I WAS MAKING FOR THE SAME NUMBER OF HOURS WORKED FROM ABOUT 5 OR 6 YEARS AGO ( AND YES IDID TAKE THE RISE IN OFFICE RENTS , INSURANCE , AND FUEL COSTS INTO THAT EQUATION )…… SECONDLY YOU HAVE JUST PROVEN ONE OF THE POINTS I MADE IN MY PREVIOUS POSTING ….. NOT ALL BERWICK , TYNEDALE , DERWENT , ETC , PLATED DRIVERS ARE DOING SO TO ” IMPERSONATE “HACKNEY CABS ….. YOU JUST ASSUME THAT IS WHY WE HAVE ALL CHANGED TO OTHER COUNCILS.YOU MIGHT LIKE TO HAVE A DRIVE TO THE AIRPORT AND SEE HOW MANY CARS UP THERE ARE PLATED FROM CASTLE MORPETH !!!!!!!!!! THE AIRPORT CABS HAVE GOT AWAY WITH THE SAME CROSS-BORDER ” HACKING ” FOR YEARS ! NOW THAT OTHER DRIVERS ARE DOING THE SAME , IT IS DEEMED TO BE UNLAWFUL ….. A BIT OF POT CALLING THE KETTLE IF YOU ASK ME . YOU MAY SAY THE AIRPORT HAS EXTENUATING CERCUMSTANCES FOR THE CROSS-BORDER PLATES ….BUT IF THE AIRPORT IS IN CASTLE MORPETH AREA , THEN ACCORDING TO YOU LOT , ALL THE TYNEDALE , NEWCASTLE , NORTH TYNESIDE , DERWENT ,GATESHEAD , SOUTH TYNESIDE ETC , WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO ” PLY FOR TRADE IN A COUNCIL AREA THAT THEY ARE NOT PLATED FROM ” .IF YOU ASK ME …YOUR ALL A BIT TWO-FACED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Taxi Driver Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
@a berwick plated driver, Somebody has been listening to BLT propaganda,trying to compare the Airport situation to the whole of Tyneside. The airport Taxi situation was set up the way it was many years ago to be fair to Taxi drivers from all across the region,as the whole of the region makes use of the Airport. Not to mention the fact that it was originally owned by several Councils and therefore those councils were entitled to allow some taxis from each to work there. This carry on was decided in Court last year but you have all been in denial. Now that it has finally been decided to respect the Courts decision you are clutching at straws,You may be nearer to the Cloud Cuckoo Land that you speak of but never mind,throw up what you will and see where it gets you.It seems to me that the once quiet private hire trade must be feeling the pinch due to their rising numbers,you are only just beginning to feel what the Hackney trade has felt for years but it will get worse for you as there is no cap on private hire and as such the operators will continue to grow thier businesses…at your expense.You blindly blame Hacks for your situation,coming on here and shouting wild nonsense when really you have only yourselves to blame for not standing up to the operators,the Councils & the Government. By the way I have followed this site for a long time and it has been said quite often that not every Berwick driver was a flimper or a bandit. It was also once calculated that by being a Berwick driver you would save less than £2 per week in fees,so the money saving argument does not stand up. I know two Berwick drivers who have criminal records as long as your arm and could not get a NT badge and foreign driver who could not pass the NT locality test though I believe he has put in to take the test again and I wish him luck.
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another hack driver (a real one) Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 4:18 am
@a berwick plated driver, 4 your info the airport is in Newcastle upon tyne boundary and has been 4 the last 13-14 years oh and the caos lock button is on the left of your key board
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andy warhol Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
@a berwick plated driver,
well thats a suprise, the private hire trade has been in decline for the last 6 years? plenty say different on here though, private hire should still be picking up customers waiting outside bars at 7.00 am due to the waiting times they supposedly have.
thankyou for shreading new information on that.
HOWEVER the HACKNEY trade in newcastle upon tyne, was steady 3 years ago, but around a couple of years ago, due to the butterfly effect…
(influx of out of town plates + current private hire + no sudden rise in demand for a private hire taxi = more flimping of hackney work = less work for hackney trade)
I’m not going to answer the airport statement, as its been more than adequately answered by Taxi Driver above.
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U hcks have not got a clue,
I was born in Newcastle,have dun for 54 years I know this town like the back of my hand, and yes i have a Berwick plate, I dont know how the hacks pass a locality test, there allways asking me were places are.
Ask the students about hacks, there reply is there two expencive, and the sexual abuse they recieve from certain groups, i would never throw any one out if they were sort off a pound for there fare, as for Blueline all there drivers are licenced and insured, and all there cars are fit for there job,
Hacks dont moan when they pick up are fares,
I agree there are two many that cant speak english or know there way around, both in private hire and hack.
why pick on Berick all the time after all there are other areas that use Newcastle to,
Flimmping must spot, and both private and hack must get there act together.
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Admin Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
@Roy, For the record Roy very few Hacks come on here. Looking at the stats I would say it’s about 70% Private Hire.20% Berwick & 10% Hacks. There are over 600 Berwick plates in issue and about 40 of them work in Berwick this is probably why Berwick Cars get ‘Picked on’ But if I were you mate I would take Ian Shanks advice and ‘migrate to your own Local Authority….Soon!’ unless you know Blyth or Hexham or Berwick like the back of your hand.
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andy warhol Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
@Roy,
firstly roy, do you work for the tourist board? amazing they all ask you! i know private hire drivers who have never been asked directions by a hack driver. its simply cause its like this, 90 % of the time, if you as a hack driver doesnt know then the customer does. but if your nit picking, then i would say how many ph/out of towners pull up at hack ranks at the weekend asking where a bar/resteraunt is? quite a few belive me?
pass locality tests. yes well they do, a more in depth one than the private hire licence, which in itself is a lot more than these out of towners have ever passed!
too expensive, well you best see newcastle council, as its THEY decide on the fares. and as for expensive, i went to sunderland stadium last week from outside newcastle for £30.00 each way. a private hire driver, no names or firms mentioned, said to me ‘thats cheap, i normally clock £42.00 to sunderland centre from the town’! now roy, who is robbing who, and secondly who gets the blame? for the record, sunderland centre from newcastle centre is roughly £30.00 after 11.00 pm.
sexual abuse, come on roy, thats something thats hoyed up by the private hire/out of towners when they are on the back foot and unable to win an educated argument! PROOF PLEASE ROY!
by the way roy, would perverted hack drivers care to stop a girl from getting in a convicted rapists car? or report none taxis?
roy, 99.9% of the time, you dont find out someone is a few quid short til the journeys over, so if getting hoyed out is the punter getting out at the destination not paying the full fare, then yes we do it every night! would i take someone who was a few quid short, but holding a tenners worth of food, NO it’s the principle, they put thereselves first so i will do the same. and roy, i do have a heart, i’ve went to whitley bay (lighthouse side) for around £7.00 once cause the girl didnt have any more money (lost it) and her parents were on holliday. and just saturady i took 3 squaddies to the team valley premier inn at 10.00 pm for FREE, long story.
you must be a very clever man to be able to state that every blt driver is insured and licenced at this very moment. i bet ian himself couldnt even nmake that statement, unless you check the details of every driver every morning. and then again in the afternoon incase the insurance has been cancelled. and you are a funny guy roy, all drivers are licenced, but for where? who knows.
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@George Richardson, Everybody here knows that George,nobody is pointing the finger at Bona Fide Berwick Hacks.
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andy warhol Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
@Admin,
hey admin, i wonder how many suspicious cars there are at some of these offices. when i say suspicious, how many the office are noting are working exceptionally long hours, i.e. being doubled up, something tells me that peoples ‘cousins’ are also driving there private hire cars. probably all the cars with blacked out windows eh?
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Thanks to all for there comments, Yes a do know Northumberland like the back of my hand, I also have a Newcastle dual licence, and a North Tyneside licence, Any one with a ounce of sense Will understand getting a Berwick Licence makes good Business sense.it is therefore down to the councils to sort out the financial side.
As to the idiot that called me a DUNCE i would love to meet him,he may not be aware of any conditions I have,I thought the idea of this site was to improve the service, and air one’s thoughts,having ran several Businesses and made money I can hardly be called a DUNCE.
Is it not time national Govement stepped it to regulate the Industary,as the problem is Nation wide and not just local.
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blt cowboy Reply:
July 9th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
@roy, TBH you must be a bit of a dunce if you are paying for 3 lots of fees,CRB’s etc
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I have trawled through the messages here and even been able to read most of them despite the terrible spelling.
I an a Newcastle plated PH driver and one thing that really annoys me is to listen to Hack drivers moaning about flimping when there are so many working out of PH offices.
Don’t you realize that both these practices are one and the same thing?
Flimping is a PH driver taking a hack drivers work, I agree. Surely a hack driver doing pre booked work from a PH office is no different. You are taking the money out of our pockets so either agree that both practices are wrong or shut up.
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SC Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 2:23 am
@dok, “I an a Newcastle plated PH driver” glass houses and all that!
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dok Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am
@SC, Well spotted SC. I wondered how long it would take lol.
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Well Dok…your nearly right,with 1 major difference,a `hack` can work legally from either the street ranks or an office,as `WE` are licensed and `INSURED` for public hire…makes no difference whether the job comes from the street or an office.
On the other side,`PRIVATE HIRE`means what it says,by definition,a `privately hired vehicle to transport from A-B,by `private arrangement`,
Therefore,`by going flimping`you are using a vehicle licensed for`PRIVATE HIRE`use,as a `PUBLIC HIRE`vehicle contary to its license and by doing so you INVALIDATE the insurance,therby endangering the public.
The fact that it would appear from the total lack of credible ENFORCEMENT by either the police or certain local authorities,that `driving without the nessesary license or insurance`,is now something that can be tollerated,makes me wonder whether i`d be better off as a `cowboy`and work while ignoring any law that doesnt suit me.
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Apparently some Private Hire Operators licensed within the boundaries of Northumberland Council are operating vehicles licensed by other authorities,could a question be put on your website asking if any operator would confirm this by naming licensing authority,plate number and type of license. Also, is it true that LA (Lansdowne/Ace) have lowered their flagfall to 80p and dropped their charge per mile by 10p? if this is true i think they will be taking the student trade off us (BLT)..
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John Dodds; I never said it wasn’t legal for hacks to work from an office nor did I say that I flimp. What I said was that I am tired of hearing hack drivers winge about flimping whilst taking private hire work from us. You just want the best of both worlds. Oh and by the way my name is neither Hank nor Clint.
PHD; Yes it’s quite true. Flagfall is 80p and fares have been dropped by 10p per mile.
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NTHack Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
@dok, we’ve got the best of both worlds because it’s Legal and we invested in a Hack licence rather than stealing. Get yerself a Hack if you want more work don’t reduce yourself to thieving,not that you have but don’t be tempted,them mystery shoppers is everywhere.
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phdnt Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 9:55 am
@dok, Hacks were drawn into offices by operators otherwise they could not legally call themselves a Taxi Firm.
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I am a dual badge holder (newcastle) and i would love a hack but i aint paying a multiple plate holder £250 a week then an office £100 a week then £150 fuel.
Things are hard enough as it is without nearly doubling my over heads !
Its fine and dandy for the lads that own a hack and got the plate for nowt however many years ago but i cant understand anyone renting a hack then putting a data in
I agree with dok the private hire lads (when working within the law) have one option and thats getting a booked job of the radio/data a hack has a lot more Rank,Flagdown or radio/data.
now before the accusations start , i do not flimp but i can understand why lads do .
Private hire drivers want a slice of the cake but hacks want the whole lot to themselves.
I laugh everytime i see one of the 2 faced mugs with one of Mr Shanks data’s in and the blueslime door stickers on , the same drivers would have been slagging blueslime off either on here or on the ranks or even the forum meetings
and now look at them lol they’ve joined the blueslimes great brigade !
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dok Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 9:09 am
@Am133, Well said Am13.
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Andy Warhol Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
@Am133,
i’m a bit supprised by this post, it sounds very jealous, bitter and spiteful.
If you are a legal hack driver working within your area then you have that choice as to whether you work an office or the streets. Both are LEGAL (keyword).
perhaps IF private hire were not picking up uninsured every weekend then less of the hack trade would work these offices!
IN FACT i am in favour of more and more of the hack trdae working these offices, and giving the private hire a taste of there own medicine, even i am on the verge of going to a large newcastle office aswell as a few others i know!
and to the guys who beliebve that private hire are fully booked all night, then maybe you would like to explain to my mate who hardly got a job on friday, even though he had the datahead turned on all night!
Perhaps, this is down to a change in the publics trends, as from what i am seeing more people are bussing it in and hacking it home!
it seems the 2 ‘dinosaurs’ of the public transport service in newcastle are surving … just. while the private hire trade now get bitter about there legal older cousins ‘pinching’ there work!!!
lol, what goes around, comes around…
FACT. It’s not stealing if a hack is paying for the service!
FACT a hack is INSURED to do either
FACT it will only get worse for the private hire as the reccession goes on and more hacks follow suit
FACT a private hire caught flimping will be charged with NO INSURANCE and hit with points on there licence!
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Spike Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 4:51 am
@Am133, AM133 i dont know how long you have been in the trade but for your information blueline have had a few of their own hacks for a lot of years now and infact probably had them when you were still in nappies even though i sometimes wonder if you still are,judging by your remarks.And i know of two or three drivers who have been their for roughly ten years which makes your quotes sound a bit dodgy as the forum only started not so long ago and toomanytaxis has not been up and running for not long eithier.
Granted there are two or three newcastle hacks joined blueline over the last month or so and two of them have been in the trade for a long time and for their own endeavour and will to try things new, they took a gamble and good luck to them as i know these two lads and at least they have a smile on their faces which makes a change to certain whingers who spend their time gossiping because they have nowt else to do!(sorry for the pun LOL).
P.S Forgive me if i am wrong but how is it in LA these days(just a wild guess)
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Am133 Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
@Spike, L.A is fine thanks and i have been in the trade just over 6 years and have watched its demise from the inside ! thankfully i came into the trade through the correct routes and passed a Newcastle locality test so i am able to hold me head high and say i done it properly .
i know that blueline had some newcastle hacks but i was told about 2 or 3 years ago they had been cashed in and the cars but on bandit plates .
thanks for correcting me,and i know how long the forums been running and the website and if you look back through the posts on here yourself there is quite a few hack drivers slated ian and blueslime a merely pointed out that maybe some of those very hack drivers possibly now had a blueslime data in because most of the hacks blame ian for the influx of out of area plates and the fact that there is now more than ever blueslime cars taking work out of the town.
but i guess it’l be a case of if you cant beat him join him hell i’ve even considered going north tyneside myself , they have more work in there neghbouring licence authority than any Newcastle office .
I have even seen me sitting first car in town and my mate from blueslime pulling up alongside me 16th car in town and getting a job before me
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Spike Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 4:54 am
@Am133, Just to add on my last post was that i know of two or three Newcastle hack drivers that have been at blueline for ten years roughly!
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Private hire driver NCLE Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
@Am133, Am133 you may not? flimp yourself but can I just ask if you turn a blind eye to your fellow LA drivers who do?
Last night I was parked outside of KFC waiting for my booked fare to turn up and was approached by a group of girls who asked if I could take them to Jesmond, I of course refused.
They then approached a the blueline car that was parked outside of Pizza hut opposite where you were standing when you were talking to one of your fellow LA drivers in a blue car.
Then they crossed the road, watched by yourself and approached the white LA minibus and after briefly talking to the driver they got in and were driven away.
That looked like a flimp to me mate, I could be wrong and apologise if I am wrong but they approached vehicles from 3 different PH firms.
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Am133 Reply:
August 14th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
@Private hire driver NCLE,
You say watched by myself ???
I cant say i noticed him picking up and like i will reitterate “i do not flimp” i am passed caring what anyone else does now i am going with the “one for all and F**k everybody else attitude” as long as i can survive i really dont care any more !
I dont “watch” every single person getting in to every single taxi.
Its not my job to check and see if he had a booking !
You could take it up with L.A or even the enforcement who will do nothing anyway !
Like i have said before i endevour to do the job within the law and have nothing to hide !
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Private hire driver NCLE Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
@Am133, Why do you and your mates from LA taxis always sit outside of Pizza hut on grainger street if you aren’t interested in flimping? It looks like you and your mates have effectively created an LA “Rank”. I use the term rank as it looks like your all ranked up there. And please don’t use the excuse that your all parked there just to chat to each other while your queued in town as you could all park up somewhere a lot quieter than that and still be in the town, for example behind the central station.
I await your reply.
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Am133 Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
@Private hire driver NCLE,
Once again a narrow minded prick still insists i go into town with the intention to flimp feel free to try and catch me out by any means neccessary and once and for all you might stop accusing me.
I have already explained my self on that situation before but i will once again explain it for the goldfish’s amongst us with little or no memory , i have friends from many offices L.A, A.B.C ,Blueline T.js etc so if you open your eyes you will see its not JUST L.A and its a canny place because it is inbetween 2 zones on a lot of ofFices with G.P.S thus it is a good place and puts the lads into the busier of the 2 zones in town !
Any other questions i can answer for you while i am on ????
By the way i were white socks if you were wondering seeing as you want to know all my bussiness …….
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Well Mr. dual badge holder (who doesn’t flimp) you obviously make enough money from your dual badge without the need to steal Newcastle Hackney Carriage work off our streets. You should reply and tell us exactly how you appear to be the only one who manages to do this and then all the real thieves can follow your example and stick to their legitimate bookings from their ‘legitimate’ offices.
We’re going to do a survey soon to find out how many of us are left who actually work in this trade for a living rather than for pocket money (and other reasons) and if we reach double figures for those that do we will let you know on this site. Incidentally, if you know what to look for it is easy to tell who genuinely does this for a living.
With regard to those that don’t do this for a living (and make no mistake about it they’re in the majority) they will have no real interest in removing the private hire drivers out of our city especially those that have Berwick and Derwent plates on their cars. Admittedly they will pay lip service to tackling the problem but without any substance, again if you look closely you will discover why this is the case.
You may wonder if I am merely stating an opinion here or talking from actual experience of the problem. You should be aware that procedures were put in place a long time ago in order to allow the pirates to circumvent the new legislation from Northumberland and these will be successful because the real issues are not being tackled at the grass roots level for one reason or another. Ask yourself who really financed all of this?
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Am133 Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
@Kwai Chang Caine,
Well seeing as you’ve asked, about 3 months ago i made the final payment on my car so this saves me £300 a month , my son started school in september last year allowing my partner to seek a full time job which she has done and is very well paid thank you very much !
Yes this is my full time job with no other personal income but if you read my comment were i say “it is hard enough as it is” does not mean iam making a fortune means i am scraping by (just) but am doing this legally and within the law !
oh and to be labelled a thief off someone who dont even know me and has an obvious chip on their shoulder for one reason or another is an insult.
QUOTE
“With regard to those that don’t do this for a living (and make no mistake about it they’re in the majority) they will have no real interest in removing the private hire drivers out of our city especially those that have Berwick and Derwent plates on their cars”
SO YOU WANT ALL PRIVATE HIRE OFF THE STREETS INCLUDING THOSE WHO PAY FEE’S TO THE EXACT SAME COUNCIL AS YOURSELF !
THANK YOU FOR BEING THE FIRST PROOF THAT THE GREEDY HACK DRIVERS WANT ALL THE TOWN TO THEMSELVES AND ARE NOT EVEN WILLING TO SHARE IT WITH THE NEWCASTLE LICENCED PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS
POINT PROVEN
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Andy Warhol Reply:
August 16th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
@Am133,
i think you have read that wrong,
i read that he wants all the non booked private hire taken out of the city centre, after all this is what he was talking about.
IF he is talking about this then yes i do too, WHY should private hire be allowed to park up in buss stops, yellow lines, hack ranks, where ever they feel waiting for a job? whilst hacks are chased, and ticketed, for not being able to get on a rank!
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Am133 Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
@Andy Warhol,
If that is what he means then yes i can understand that , the non booked ones kept out the way to make room for the cars waiting for legitimate bookings and it would be easier for enforcement to police if the only PH cars parked up in town had bookings and anyone without a booking assumed to be illegally plying for hire .
Something along the lines of the three strikes and your out maybe …….?
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@Kwai Chang Caine, Commenters should keep in mind that Not every PH driver is a Flimper.
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Am133 Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
@Admin,
well said,
Majority of the Newcastle hacks (not all) have now adopted the theory that ALL PH flimp you almost feel guilty pulling up for a booked job near a hack because they are staring you out but at least everytime it happens to me i will show my data screen if asked because i have nowt to hide !
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You are quite right Admin that not every private hire driver is engaged in flimping which is why I stated that the dual badge holder merely appeared to be the only one who managed to do that. The situation we are faced with is that a very sizeable majority have free reign throughout the entire city centre. This group of drivers includes Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside private hire plated cars and nearly the entire number of ‘out of town’ plated cars that have office radios from the operators in these areas.
The reality is that the number of drivers who are now prepared to take illegal non-booked fares off the streets is on a scale that is now unprecedented and largely unchallenged.
There was a time when a situation like this would never have been allowed to happen let alone escalate, because the drivers would have policed themselves. In those days anyone caught stealing your livelihood would get a good hiding. Nowadays, with the advent of political correctness and such like a driver would have to be very careful how he tackled a situation like this.
The problem is also further exacerbated by the known fact that some of these drivers are being helped and encouraged by a small number of the Newcastle hackney drivers; it is also regrettable that some of these private hire drivers are being allowed to drive black cars using the same roof signs as Newcastle hackney carriage saloon cars.
We have all seen these in the city and we have all tolerated them and yet we are all expected to follow a strict colour code within our own trade. This is an intolerable situation that Newcastle city council licensing department needs to address urgently.
The enforcement of these issues and others is obviously a massive undertaking for the council because we are talking in excess of two thousand cars going unchallenged day and night (not including the seven hundred and eighty-eight Newcastle Hackney carriages).
As we all know the police have a limited interest in all of this so it would make sense for the council to look at the whole issue of enforcement very seriously because this one issue can make the difference between a Newcastle hackney carriage driver making an honest living to feed his family or not.
By their own admittance the council are undermanned for the purpose but while acknowledging this we also have the right to proper protection from the pirates when we pay the licensing department two hundred and fifty-five pounds a year for our plate, sixty pounds a year for our badge and fifty-four pounds a time for an MOT. You would rightly expect that this would guarantee us certain privileges within our own trade. The council have a duty to protect us and they have a duty to protect the public.
I have a great respect for our Forum members who are tackling these issues on our behalf but it is entirely debatable which of these should take precedence. We are all aware that we need more official rank spaces but what good is a new rank space when you have already lost your job to the pirate(s) parked around the corner?
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Addressing the subject at the top of the page, i don’t think that the pirates/bandits will have any bother getting badge/plate renewals. I park up next to a couple (although i don’t agree with their methods of licencing, me being a N/T licenced PH drvr) and they have been informed by northumberland council that the licences will be transfered over upon renewal disregarding where they will be used. I don’t think we’ll see the end to this problem for a long time, if ever. The court judgement, in my eyes, has’nt changed a thing. But the bandits who i have spoken to in the past don’t flimp so it’s only the p/h trade that they are affecting by merely uping the number of drivers.
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LETS START A PARTY(fingers crossed).
News reaches me that The good and proper council that is Northumberland is starting to go through the Bandit plates causing wide spread panic amongst the Bandits.Now lets all keep our fingers toes etc crossed that all of these Bandits who arrived here on Camels or from the back of an Artic are refused a plate and the trade can get back to having fit and proper drivers who have a pride in what they are doing.
So come on Northumberland and North tyneside councils be strong if they cant pass locality tests or prove they live in the Borough DONT GIVE THEM A PLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!.
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another hack driver (a real one) Reply:
August 27th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
@N E 1 for a cuppa, all very well and hope they do but the damage is done now and those ppl that would of not passed a locality test probally will do now because they have been driving on bandit plates for a few years now
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Upset NT Driver Reply:
August 28th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Nice comment N E 1, but what about them geeky kids that work in Halfords demonstrating SatNav’s, they will be out of a Job!!!!!!, and may turn to getting a Taxi Badge!
There is one Driver I will feel sorry for if he gets run out town and he is the one I noticed last Saturday night, I was driving down Earsdon Road, Whitley bound when I heard a terrible rumbling, grinding sound behind me, What could that be I thought?
Thunder?……..no
A Polish Cargo Plane full of Immigrants heading for Berwick seeking a easy Taxi Badge, not realising Berwick is no more HAHA………NO!
A Operator dragging all his takings in a large Skip to the Bank two days early?…….nope!
Dave Wilson crawling back under his Rock?…..sadly no!
Well it was only a K reg, yes that’s right k reg 1992/3 Berwick Car hurling past me with his Plate stuck in the back Window!, obviously the Car was too new to drill two holesin the back for the legendary Plate.
P.M.S.L
People like that along with the Flimpers will be no miss to the trade.
Lets hope they go by Christmas.
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Private hire driver NCLE Reply:
August 28th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
@Upset NT Driver, Sorry to have to tell you this mate but even if the plates have gone by christmas the majority of the drivers will probably still be driving.
I have spoken to quite a few bandit drivers over the last few weeks and most of them are prepared for Northumberland taking their plates. Some have recently aquired NT PH badges, some Newcastle PH badges and a few even have Newcastle dual badges.
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This explains the text sent out to every Blue Line driver today \”Any hackney driver or plate owner, you need to ring David Wilson 07794776383 for an appointment to protect your plate or Northumberland council may revoke it.\” think Mr Shanks arse is nipping at the thought of 1/3 of his 500+ drivers not being able to work soon, think of the lost rent!
This A to Z must be a reputable company working from the mobile phone!!
btw, even after a couple of years on the road, some of these clowns still wont pass a locality test!
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Andy Warhol Reply:
August 27th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
@BLT wise one,
Well i hope the message is loud and clear to ALL other Hackney AND Private Hire drivers to under no circumstances seek this mans help for any issues! All this guy wants to do is line his pockets, and i hope that he can forge a good living out of the remaining berwick/northumberland plates who contiinue to exploit the law, as hopefully the REST of the trade who do things the CORRECT way will not go to this man for the time of day!
the absolute nerve that this guy comes on here, offering us his services at a price, and then continues (which we all knew he would) to reap damage onto the lawfully licenced trade!
IF you had any idea of what you have caused, you would hang your head in shame! but instead you couldnt give a **** that the trades in newcastle and NT have struggled ever since the mass influx of these ‘bandits’! Instead, you wish to partner up with your robin again, for your own personal gain! had you won last time you would have received one hell of a pat on the back, this time its a fat wallet!
Ohh, and again its clear that you dont value the public saftey, by attempting to carry this saga on and on, we will be left with berwick/northumberland plates that no one seems to know who is responsible, therefore they will continue to do as they wish, assuming they are beyond the law!.
I’ll tell you what Mr. Wilson, why not accept the full hack trade as a membership and then defend OUR livilihoods. Something tells me wou wouldnt activate your conflict of interests clause! and if you would, well to me it would seem like blackmail to the lawfull hackney trade!
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Hackney Carriage Driver Reply:
August 27th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
@BLT wise one, I found the answers to someone’s locality test today and I decided to keep them in case I ever decide to sit the exam myself.
Question one had me stumped it read and I quote: ‘What is the shortest route from Calais to Newgate Street?’
Question two was a lot easier it said you only have to know the answer to question one.
Sounds to me like somebody got a job lot on sat nav’s.
If anybody gets p****d off when one of these jokers uses a rank space to go shopping just ring the new parking number on: 0191 2772728
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Andy Warhol Reply:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
@Hackney Carriage Driver,
Like the Black NT licenced BLT ‘breadvan’ who continues to use the Bigg Market rank as his own personal parking space even though he has already received one ticket!
this guy is either seeing a mate or stuffing his gob in a restuarant and is usually there for a couple of hours. Last night was the most recent.
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Personally i think its shocking that some councils allow someone to take a locality test using a sat nav. I mean come on would the same council employ me as a fitter or mechanic because i own a haynes manual.
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Private hire driver NCLE Reply:
August 27th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
@toon ph, That’s crazy if it is true!
If it is tru, why don’t you name and shame them on here.
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