Taxi drivers in Bournemouth are shocked to hear that the council will support plans to close down the Horseshoe Common taxi rank.
“Recipe for Disaster”
Cabbies in the area have branded the proposal as a “recipe for disaster” and say they feel it will be leaving their passengers in a vulnerable position due to the fact that they’ll have to walk further from the town centre in order to get a black cab.
Chairman of Bournemouth Borough Council’s licensing committee, Councillor Andrew Morgan said: “There is currently a throng and a crush late on Friday and Saturday nights at Horseshoe Common with hundreds of people trying to negotiate a narrow bit of pavement near take-away queues and railings.
“We are aiming for the safer and faster dispersal of these people by moving them to areas where there is more space.”
He added that the changes were also being made in the hope that it made the area more “family-friendly”.
Attacks on Cabbies
The Chairman of Bournemouth Taxi Drivers’ Association, John Tye, has fears that the rank move would aggravate drunken passengers, putting drivers at risk of verbal or physical abuse in a day and age where attacks on cabbies are at an all-time high.
A final decision will be made at the next cabinet meeting where there will also be discussions around extra funding to combat unlicensed taxis operating in the town centre