BLACKBURN and Darwen Council should be given the full support they deserve in their bid to make the town's taxi drivers face up to their obligations to the public.

Surely, in the light of police findings during spot checks on taxis, the drivers cannot claim that they have not brought things upon themselves.

They seem to be demanding immunity from the same laws every vehicle owner faces.

They can have no complaint whatsoever at the council's proposals in view of the utterly appalling findings.

If they find the rules hard to swallow and don't want to waste time maintaining their taxis and if it cuts into their earnings, then maybe they would prefer less-frequent random checks by the police, with drivers of taxis found unsafe losing their licence for six months and the car being automatically impounded.

If this happens, it can only be their own fault. It is up to them to keep their taxis correctly maintained at all times, and they can't then cry at the consequences.

Can I also ask why so few of them wear a badge that can easily be seen? Or do they have a reason for not showing them? Maybe the council should come down just as hard on this issue as well. It is vital, especially for young girls and women, to know who is driving them and that the man behind the wheel is who he should be - not a relative or friend of the licensed driver, or a convicted rapist for that matter.

I have lost count of the number of drivers I have seen either with no badge at all or with it hidden under a coat.

These drivers are subject to the same driving laws and speed limits that everyone else has to obey.

But taxi drivers are a law unto themselves. And it is a scandal that ordinary car owners are continually punished and fined for things that taxi drivers get away with every hour of the day.

The council should continue to protect the public and not pander to the bully-boy tactics of these law-breaking taxi cowboys.

I think all of the law-abiding drivers who do look after the public by driving carefully in clean, well-maintained cars, and show their badges with pride, do a super job and we would be lost without them.

R ROBINSON, Bank Lane, Blackburn.

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