ROSSENDALE Council has suspended six taxis for matters such as illegal tyres and absent roof signs and meters after an operation in Manchester.

Operation Persephone was deployed jointly with the council, Greater Manchester Police, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and HMRC during the morning and afternoon of Friday, March 13, throughout the Deansgate and Piccadilly areas of Manchester.

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A total of 12 Rossendale taxis were stopped and inspected and the DVSA issued one immediate prohibition and the police issued one fixed penalty notice.

A further vehicle was issued with a defect notice for oversized signage.

A Rossendale Council spokesman said: “There is no excuse for the types of defects found, taxi drivers are professional drivers and as such they should be carrying out basic checks to ensure passenger safety.

“The council will continue to conduct these inspections regularly.

“Licensed taxis are regularly tested and further taxi inspections are scheduled to take place to ensure all taxis are safe for customers to travel in.

“The lack of basic maintenance and defects found on some of the taxis was disappointing.”