COULD I pick up Mr Ron Taylor's comment (Letters, January 2) regarding suggestions that taxi drivers claim to have made.

I have met with their representatives recently and their comments are limited to the number of MoTs and the alleged excessive costs. I am still waiting to hear suggestions on the improvement to the vehicles that they use on Blackburn's roads.

The failure rate for vehicles submitted for MoT tests is 80 per cent. This level of failure - bearing in mind that it is only four months since a previous MoT for each vehicle - indicates the high usage of the cars and the poor maintenance standards of them.

If the Council's Public Protection Sub-Committee was to reduce the number of MoTs to two a year, it would mean that 80 per cent of private hire cars would be on the road at least two months out of six in an unroadworthy and possibly dangerous condition.

Until the standard improves, we must retain three tests per year and it is imperative that the drivers co-operate with us and carry out the simple weekly tests that we are keen to introduce.

Coun. JIM BLACKBURN, Portree Crescent, Shadsworth, Blackburn.

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