Rogue cab drivers run off the road

by Sam Wallace

Scotland Yard seized 57 cars in the West End in London's biggest purge on illegal minicabs.

 

		Crackdown: minicab drivers are stopped at a police roadblock

With growing fears that unlicensed cab drivers are at the centre of criminal activity in central London, more than 70 Met officers, traffic police and Westminster council bailiffs swooped on hundreds of cars at roadblocks for spot checks.

Supt Dean Ingledew had told officers taking part in the action - known as Operation Victory - that the 19 sexual assaults carried out by unlicensed drivers on women in the last six months indicated the "dark side of the trade".

He said: "Westminster has a problem with street robbery and crack cocaine, minicabs are an integral part of that - they encourage criminal activity. Where you get illegal minicabs, inevitably you get crime."

Three arrests were made during last night's raid, one for possession of an offensive weapon - an iron bar. Of the 57 cars seized, 10 failed to meet basic safety rules. The drivers of the other 47 lost their cars because they had not paid fines. Bailiffs moved swiftly on any driver who fell foul of their database of all traffic offences in England and Wales. New licensing laws which come into force this year are believed to have triggered a wave of activity from illegal cab drivers eager to make money before the regulations strike home.

Chief Insp Tony Robinson said that a strong link existed between the estimated 3,000 unlicensed minicabs in London and other forms of crime, such as drug dealing and prostitution. "When you disturb the activity of illegal minicabs you inevitably disturb all forms of criminal activity. We want to show the people of Westminster that street crime is a priority for the Met Police and we want to remove the cover behind which criminals operate." Under the new guidelines, 50,000 legal minicab operators will face strict background checks into possible criminal records before drivers themselves are scrutinised by the Public Carriage Office - part of the Greater London Authority.

For those drivers caught out by the the police operation last night, the journey home on public transport was a long one. Within minutes of a road block being set up opposite the Waldorf Hotel on the Aldwych, one man watched in disbelief as his car was winched on to a lorry. The man, who refused to comment, had failed to pay fines. At a roadblock on the Aldwych, another man, who refused to be named, was discovered to have been driving without insurance. He said: "My car is roadworthy, I just don't have any insurance. I took a chance, it was 50-50 and I got caught."

Behind Soho Centrepoint, near Tottenham Court Road, Baba Sharif waited nervously to see if his car had passed its inspection. Mr Sharif, who is not a minicab driver, passed with flying colours but a man behind him was not so lucky - the database showed three warrants for unpaid fines and his Rover car was lowered on to a lorry.

Despite the inconvenience, Mr Sharif agreed with the police measures. He said: "I'm surprised to be stopped driving home from work but I understand why the police are doing it - safety has to come first."

On Cranbourn Street, near Leicester Square, where one car was found by bailiffs to have eight unpaid fines, local coffee shop owner Mario Aziz watched the operation with satisfaction. Mr Aziz, 35, said that he had trouble receiving deliveries on a street clogged with illegal minicabs. "If a police car on an emergency call tries to get through here it can take 15 minutes to wait for these cabs to move," he said. "Traffic wardens have become so sensitive to the problem that even I have been mis-taken for an unlicensed cab driver."

Councillor Louise St John Howe, chair of Westminster's transport and highways committee, said the ultimate aim of Operation Victory was the removal of illegal minicabs altogether. "There are plenty of reputable minicabs who operate a good service - we ask people to arrange for them to pick them up at a certain time. Illegal minicabs stop emergency services getting through."