There is another deterrent the council does not use and many people will probably not know of their existance or there powers nowadays, as when the scheme was first set-up in Northumberland it was very secretive as a pilot scheme even to its recruits in the beginning, as none of the bosses were sure how the public would react in the early days to being spied on by this scheme.

I was one of the second recruited batch of applicants starting in January 2001 and being told you are going to be the “eyes and ears of the community” and we were sent on 10 workshop sessions based over 5 days in the same week at Northumbria Police Headquarters and trained by the Northumbria Police Training School.

I left the scheme after 8 weeks and before I actually did any serious patrolling, when I had recieved various other training that you had to have undertaken before you were legally insured to do the job, as well as the Northumbria Police Training. My reasons for leaving was because I was a former Transport and General Workers Union Elected Representative and I personally did not agree that a working persons wages and conditions, should be effectively reduced by introducing watered down Policeman/woman, because the Community Wardens were going to be used as the new cheaper to employ bobbies on the beat with lesser powers than the Northumbria Policeman/woman.

The Community Wardens were paid for from grants recieved from the European Communities Funding and although in Northumberland I believe they still have Community Wardens, it appears in North Tyneside anyway we have Community Officers with limited powers and dressed in a Police Uniform and they walk the streets of North Tyneside working the same hours as the regular Police personel until the early hours of the morning when the drinkers are in North Tyneside and so why the Council, if these Community Officers are still funded by the European Community do not take these Employed street walking bobbies on the beat, who are suppose to be the “Eyes and Ears of the Community” up to Northumbria Police Headquarters and get a qualified Police Trainer to explain the Hackney Carriage Laws and the Private Hire Laws to these bobbies who could at no cost to the Council, if the European money is still granted to pay there wages or a percentage of them possibly, these street patroling bobbies could easily enforce the law and move these suspect vehicles on.

Hope you like this little nugget of information that you may like to check out with your local councillor for your region!

Good luck all.

dont know what time that was, but i saw him pulling up outside Rewind on the opposite side at about 3.05 a.m. so obviously he wasnt rumbled by the van, or he doesnt give a stuff!.

various reasons why i couldnt write the reg down, but its R363 (i believe). but i will get it and hoy it up here, as the public NEEDS to know that this isnt a TAXI of ANY kind!

aye RN05, seems to have gone, or the car has …

228 vehicles checked…

179 hackney carriadges (out of 780 odd hacks)

33 Private hire (out of over 1,000 cars)

16 out of town plates (how many on the road, anyones guess)

complete and utter joke, the figures say it all …

Where is the figures of covert operation results? Or how many prosecutions pending?

I remember NT did a blitz on private hire over a year ago, around 15 drivers were caught, and ALL were named and shamed in the chronicle. Why do Newcastle not follow suite?

As for losing there badges, no way, I know someone who was caught last years plate day, he is still driving private hire to this day.

Are Newcastle frightened to blitz these guys? For whatever reason?

The only enforcement I see is 780 odd hacks getting shifted continually for not being able to get onto there 71 rank spaces. I suspect the council are doing nothing more than playing a game to see who gets sick first, the trade or them! it is annoying when you’ve sat for 1 hour only to find that your being moved on, because in their own words “we are targeting taxis tonight” and not the traffic parked all the way down one side of the bigg market, or boy racers, who on Saturday had from the bigg market toilet rank, all the way up!

And remember the key word is ‘taxis’, private hire vehicles are another matter!

As for plate day, I have been told that a lad first in the queue was asked for a price on a job, they then went to the car behind also a hack. Then they went across to the other side asked 2 private hire, then a Blyth hack, who happily got them in his car! the n/c hack got the police who was happy to get the passengers back out then chase the blyth hack, but didn’t take his number as he didn’t know the law regarding that! Terrific, we have police officers on duty who don’t know the law! What next surgeons who don’t know the anatomy of the human body! but its strange isn’t it, the police don’t know the law on flimping, nor do they know the law if someone parks on a hack rank, nor do they know the law if a member of the public is picking people up and posing as a taxi, YET they do seem to know the law if your on double yellows, on who you should pick up, on where exactly the rank starts,,,

People, we are being taking for mugs!

ohh, and Newcastle enforcement, I am 99% sure is the same guy as (N13 GLC?), but we now have a silver ford focus, with NOO FOOD OR DRINK on the rear doors, TWO tom toms, one I suppose is meant to resemble a data head, cruising the market. I didn’t get a chance to get the reg, but no doubt I’ll see him again, when your busy chasing us from not being able to get onto one of our 71 hack spaces.

The original comment was ‘cowboy cars’ NOT ‘pirates’, that is why I asked for a clarification.

If you re-read my original comments you will see that I have stated ‘that there should be N/c H/c Ranks Outside each Venue where there is a Demand for Service’ especially on Collingwood/Mosley St which is currently become a Busy Pick Up Point.

Provisions Can be Made for Ranks at these Places,and if it was done properly the traffic congestion would be reduced.

Active enforcement of Non N/c H/c Vehicles would also help the sitution.

If we Do Not Get Ranks There, ‘Pirates’ will have’field day’, then watch what happens to traffic flow.

Licensing, Parking Control and Police Officers Should Be Targetting Them and NOT Intimidating the N/c Licensed H/c Trade.

CCTV is being used to Prosecute/Intimidate N/c H/c, when it should be targeting the ‘Pirates’

What Nobody Has Mentioned is that currently All Traffic has to Travel this way, because of the Closure of Newgate St. Once that is Open then we should see a Traffic Reduction.

In Addition, Why Not Allow Traffic to Flow along Grainger St/Market St on a Friday/Saturday evening 23:00 to 06:00.

No Not Guilty, you have wrong person.