Taxis and minicabs
The council licenses three types of vehicles as hackney carriages.
The most common type are white saloon vehicles. These display a roof sign with the word 'Taxi'. There are also a small number of 'London Style' taxis and others that are particularly suited to passengers with disabilities. These vehicles tend to be specially adapted for use as hackney carriages by their manufacturers and conform to certain specifications prescribed by the Council.
Hackney carriages have to be tested at one of four testing stations approved by the Council. These tests include the normal MOT requirements, but go considerably further to ensure the comfort and safety of the vehicle.
The council believes that there is presently no significant unmet demand for the services of hackney carriages in its area and so limits the number of licensed hackney carriages to thirty, (shortly to be increased to 37 with the addition of 7 wheelchair accessible vehicles).
All hackney carriages can be hailed/flagged down in the street by potential passengers. They can also be found waiting at any of the three taxi ranks in the town. The law also allows hackney carriages to be used as private hire vehicles.
Each hackney carriage displays a licence plate at the rear of the vehicle. Licensed hackney carriage drivers must wear their badge, which contains their photo and licence number, at all times they are driving a hackney carriage.
More information about taxis can be found at the National Taxi Associationor TaxiNet UK
Related articles:
- Hackney carriage taxi
"Hackney carriage" is the formal term for a taxi.
