HUNDREDS of people were left stranded when eight taxi firms in Accrington staged a lightning strike at the weekend - in protest at the "wrong" treatment by police of a cab driver "falsely accused" of an offence.

Yet, if fair play is what they were after, just what the heck were they playing at - punishing innocent members of the public?

That was wrong and inexcusable.

For whether or not there is any substance to this allegation is not for a gaggle of truculent taxi men to decide - they are not the law. It is for the law to decide - with the police determining whether to charge this driver and, if so, with him having his day in court. Just like anyone else.

For if the anarchic action by these striking drivers was to have any influence, it would create a category of untouchables, no longer subject to the law.

Just who do they think they are?

They need a salutary reminder that, in this country, no-one is above the law - and it would be a form of justice if they received it from their abused customers who, in future, take their business elsewhere.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.