31 private hire vehicles and 13 hackney carriages licensed by the City Council were checked as part of an enforcement operation in the city on Friday night – 5 March.

During previous checks of this kind a significant number of vehicles have repeatedly been found to be in an unroadworthy condition. However, Friday night’s check resulted in only 2 vehicles being taken off the road. 20 vehicles were in a totally satisfactory condition, 14 vehicles had defects which will have to be rectified within two weeks and 8 owners were given advisory notices for minor defects.

Councillor Frank Carter, Acting Chair of the Licensing Panel said,

"These are the best results we have ever seen from an operation of this type and I am very encourages. Over the last six months in particular, many drivers have upgraded their vehicles and are now maintaining them to a very high standard.

"I am particularly pleased that there were no vehicles found with excessively worn tyres which, in the past, has been a big problem.

"The vast majority of drivers who maintain their vehicles in tip top condition are a credit to their trade and to the city. But we will continue to monitor standards to weed out the minority of drivers who fail to maintain their vehicles and give the trade a bad name."

The operation was part of the ongoing programme of enforcement aimed at raising vehicle standard in the city, and involved City Council Officers, the Police, Department of Transport Vehicle Inspectors and benefits Agency staff.