Member Article

Taxi firm angry at council decision

A Newcastle-based taxi firm who have had to make 90 people redundant due to a council decision, say it has missed out on hundreds of pounds.

Blue Line Taxis have been at loggerhead with Newcastle Council who say the firm can not use the same telephone number at both its Wallsend and Newcastle offices.

The firm was forced to let 90 members of staff go, and a plan to recruit 110 was shelved.

The drivers who have lost their jobs say the ruling serves no purpose to themselves or customers.David Wolniewicz is one of those drivers.

He said: “It has been a lot harder this week, I have noticed the impact straight away. I want to get back to driving as soon as I can because it’s something I love.

“It’s a ridiculous situation which should is not in the public interest at all. Now we could have as many as 600 people on a busy weekend not being able to get home because there aren’t as many Blue Line taxis available – who benefits from that?

John Woodhead, who has been a taxi driver for 30 years, added: “It’s a dire decision just for the sake of a phone number. It will have a big impact on my livelihood if I don’t find regular work soon. But it could be three months before I’m up and running regularly again.”

Blue Line managing director Ian Shanks, said: “The cold hard fact is that with the loss of all of our Newcastle City Council licensed drivers, we have been unable to cope with the demand from our customers.

“It’s a ridiculous situation caused purely and simply by council red tape, which has caused nothing but confusion and uncertainty. But if the council had only seen sense, these drivers would still be in work and they would still be picking up fares and making hundreds of pounds a week. I just hope that someone in the council takes a look at this and realises it’s bureaucracy we don’t need.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .