Darlington taxi driver could lose licence over toilet break (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Darlington taxi driver could lose licence over toilet break

8:00am Friday 27th April 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By David Roberts, Chief Reporter (Darlington)

Mark Brown

A CABBIE risks losing his licence after answering the call of nature.

Mark Michael Brown had to leave his taxi unattended while he went into a betting shop to use the toilet.

However, his empty vehicle was spotted by eagle-eyed traffic wardens who reported him for breaking Darlington Borough Council by-laws, which state that it is illegal for a taxi to be unattended on a rank.

Now, Mr Brown faces a court appearance and also must appear in front of a council tribunal where he could have his licence taken off him.

Mr Brown said: “I had a bad case of an upset stomach and William Hill’s was the nearest toilet that I could use for free.

“Throughout the course of the day I’d been going in and out of there, but the wardens spotted me going in there with my car unattended.”

He has now been issued with a summons to appear in court on May 9 where he could be fined. After that he will face a council committee where he risks losing his licence.

However, he said that he was the fifth car in a rank which was only designated for three taxis. He added: “Over the years the council has turned a blind eye when there have been more than three vehicles. I was the fifth car and technically I wasn’t on the rank, it hasn’t been repainted and there are no markings, just a sign saying it’s for three cars.”

Mr Brown said the alternative would be for him to lose his place in the rank, pay for somewhere to park and then find a toilet. This was something he was unable to do in his condition.

“At the end of the day they are going against health and safety and also breaching my human rights.”

A council spokeswoman said she could not comment on Mr Brown’s case as it is the subject of court proceedings but she said the situation with the taxi rank in the Market Place was being reviewed.

She added “The council is not the taxi drivers’ employer and, as such, has no legal obligation to provide toilets or other facilities.

“We simply license and regulate the trade.

“Taxi ranks are not parking places for taxis, they are places for working taxis to pick up and drop off passengers.

Any driver who wishes to park and leave their car, for whatever reason, should use a designated public parking place.”

Comments(32)

bunt61 says...
8:31am Fri 27 Apr 12

Why is there no common sense left in this world any more?

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camerongordon says...
8:49am Fri 27 Apr 12

I suppose if the unnamed Council spokeperson had an upset tummy she could just take the day off work and still get her salary paid for by the pubic - The self-employed can't do that!

Or, how would she feel if the Government told her that, with her runny bottom she had to get in her car, drive to a car park and find a public conveniece when she needed a loo.

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The Love Slug says...
8:56am Fri 27 Apr 12

paid for by the pubic? Im not sure how much money that would have.....

Anyway, i bet he was on the gamblers, they all are

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antagonist1 says...
9:27am Fri 27 Apr 12

utter madness.

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byjimini says...
10:49am Fri 27 Apr 12

Well this is certainly in the public interest, I wonder how much money this is costing?

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Homshaw1 says...
1:52pm Fri 27 Apr 12

Have these spokesmen not got names?

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swissball says...
3:12pm Fri 27 Apr 12

somebody's taking the **** lol

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Sick As A Pig says...
4:51pm Fri 27 Apr 12

If he was fifth on the rank and only space for three, then he should have no case to answer. Maybe the eagle eyed traffic warden should get a life.

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AlbertD says...
5:27pm Fri 27 Apr 12

All depending on when this took place - were the market toilets not still free?????
And i wouldn't want to be in the taxi with someone who is obviously too ill for work if he has to "go to the bookies for a s**t"

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smurrf says...
7:01pm Fri 27 Apr 12

why go to the bookies when the public toilets are near maybe if he stayed at home in bed with a bad stomach he wouldnt be in that trouble

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smurrf says...
7:01pm Fri 27 Apr 12

why go to the bookies when the public toilets are near maybe if he stayed at home in bed with a bad stomach he wouldnt be in that trouble

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Idontknowaboutyoubut says...
7:37pm Fri 27 Apr 12

Love the caring attitude of the council spokesperson.What a jobsworth she is!!There is a time to exercise a little bit of common sense,and compassion too!!!

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Lancelot37 says...
10:19pm Fri 27 Apr 12

Once again the lunatics are running the asylam!

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Spy Boy says...
11:24pm Fri 27 Apr 12

I'm afraid that this is just another case of total inflexibility. Ask yourself if you would have done what the Eagle Eyed Jobsworth, oops ! I mean traffic warden, did. I reckon most of would give the cabbie the benefit of the doubt, or just turn a blind eye. Are these wardens on a bonus ? Obviously the cabbie is not on their little piece of paper. The one that they look at before sticking a ticket on a car. I tried to see what was actually on the list once, but couldn't get close enough. In that instance I saw a warden walking past a very expensive looking car parked on double yellows. When challenged, he looked a bit flustered and turned back to the car. He then took out a sheet of typed paper and referred to the list on it. Maybe it's a list of people who are allowed to park on double yellows. As I was in a hurry to be somewhere, due to not wanting to get a parking ticket, I couldn't wait all day to see what he did, but he hadn't ticketed the vehicle while I was there.

Maybe the cabbie would like to get his solicitor to ask about this piece of paper ? Fair shares for all and all that.

A disabled friend of mine got a ticket for parking for 5 minutes on a double yellow even though his car was marked with the badge. He asked the warden why all the other cars on the lines were not booked. The warden told him that they were allowed to park there. One law for the elite and one law for the rest of us.

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janaliii says...
7:46am Sat 28 Apr 12

smurrf wrote:
why go to the bookies when the public toilets are near maybe if he stayed at home in bed with a bad stomach he wouldnt be in that trouble

they use the bookies because they are actually gambling on the machines, which you can observe most days.

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grumpyoldpops says...
8:16am Sat 28 Apr 12

for once i agree with the traffic warden taxi drivers flout the law all the time they think they can do what they want they park where they want speed everywhere cut you off and if this guy had the skits whats he doing working infecting everyone with his bugs i think its just a lame excuse
is he too tight to pay 20p to use the public toilets
i dont think he should lose his licence but certainly given a reprimand

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grumpyoldpops says...
8:20am Sat 28 Apr 12

Mr Brown said the alternative would be for him to lose his place in the rank, pay for somewhere to park and then find a toilet. This was something he was unable to do in his condition.

“At the end of the day they are going against health and safety
What about the Health and Safety of his passengers he was infecting

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glyn says...
10:30am Sat 28 Apr 12

Now! If I was a gambling man I would bet he is guilty.

The only person wasting money is the person not telling the truth.

Cabbie risks losing his licence.

So obviously nothing to loose and everything to gain by using the toilet as an excuse.

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TheSeer says...
10:40am Sat 28 Apr 12

One thing I have learned over the years is that things are often not as they seem. Papers often only report limited information.There is one side of the story here. Difficult to judge without hearing the full case. Who knows; the warden may have watched him betting in the shop.

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Quakerz says...
1:30pm Sat 28 Apr 12

Exactly.

What was he even doing at work if he had the **** that badly?

What if he picked up a fare for a 10 mile ride and needed a pap halfway there, in the middle of the countryside with no toilets about?

I call **** on this one.

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the-big-yin says...
2:49pm Sat 28 Apr 12

smurrf wrote:
why go to the bookies when the public toilets are near maybe if he stayed at home in bed with a bad stomach he wouldnt be in that trouble

well i know he was playing the roulette machine when i was in.......he must be bull sh..tting...lol...

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whichorwhat says...
4:22pm Sat 28 Apr 12

Taxi drivers should remain with there vehicles all the time when at the rank . They are the first to complain if another taxi que jumps & nicks there fare. If Mr Brown was just using the facilities at the bookies & that is his only line of defence . I know if it was me that was in there not gambling I would ask said betting shop to release the cctv footage of me ( which they are obliged to do under the data protection act ) just entering said betting shop, going straight to the toilet & straight back out of the shop. If indeed this is the case then it was just it bit silly of him using the betting shop when the public toilets are as close if not closer.

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whichorwhat says...
4:48pm Sat 28 Apr 12

If Mr Brown says.(Quote) I was the fifth car and technically I wasn’t on the rank. How then can Mr Brown say (Quote) the alternative would be for him to lose his place in the rank ?????

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dicko45 says...
8:00pm Sat 28 Apr 12

I was a licenced taxi driver for sixteen years and the one constant bugbear was idle jobsworths who have nothing better to do other than pick on the taxi trade and stifle it with rules, more regulations and pile up costs at our expense.

Now, to the issue at hand. Either it is, or is not, a taxi rank. If it is, then there is a sign saying so, and for how many taxis. If a vehicle is parked (unattended or not) and NOT within the confines of a marked-out taxi rank, then the driver cannot be in breach of taxi regulations.
I do wonder how many vehicles are ticketed for illegally parking on taxi ranks, a practice which Jeremy Clarkson approves of and indulges in.
Jobsworths like the traffic warden and the licencing officer ought to consider their own privileges - particularly the desk-jockeying Licencing Lady. Does she have to worry about "needing the loo" in a huirry? No, she gets up from her desk and uses the staff toilets from which the general public (who pay for them) are excluded. Cabbies need to either impose on private providers for free, or pay to use public loos, or else spend money in shops to use theirs while Council office workers and senior officers get the facility free - as well as a brew and a biccy whenever they want it.
Free toilets and free brewing facilities (including the room, kettle, milk etc are a benefit in kind and really ought to be taxed as such! (So are their free parking spaces).
What we need here is a jobsworth in Revenue & Customs to have a look at this!
Really, is this not just a storm in a teacup (or a P***-pot)?
Could it not have been resolved either by the traffic warden (who clearly needs a bit of re-training and "management advice") or by the licencing department by way of a word in the ear, saying 'You've been reported for an infringement here, explain please, OK - be a bit more careful in future.'
No, far better to make a mountain out of a molehill!

Sadly, what the general public don't realise is that their taxi administration is slanted towards "enforcement" typified by the way roadside checks on taxis are regarded. For instance, an enforcement day resulting in ten stop-notices (for serious vehicle defects) and twenty driver suspensions for whatever reason would be regarded as more successful than only half of that number being found, whereas any other quality control system would surely give the accolade to the LOWEST number of defects.
Defects can mean fines, fines mean money!
To answer "which or what", if Mr Brown was fifth in line at a three-cab rank, it must follow that his cab was second in the queue to get on the rank, n'est pas? So he wasn't actually on the rank, so he can't be charged for not attending his cab on a rank, but would Darlington be a better place if he hadn't left his cab where it was? Give the toilet a bit of a (hit and) miss.
Storm in a wotsit, grow up jobsworths.
Just to reply to byjimini, don't worry about the cost of all thiss hoo-haa - its paid for by the revenue the council get from the charges they levvy on the taxi trade, which is the only area I know of where the current cut-backs don't need to apply!

I was a licenced taxi driver for sixteen years and the one constant bugbear was idle jobsworths who have nothing better to do other than pick on the taxi trade and stifle it with rules, more regulations and pile up costs at our expense. Now, to the issue at hand. Either it is, or is not, a taxi rank. If it is, then there is a sign saying so, and for how many taxis. If a vehicle is parked (unattended or not) and NOT within the confines of a marked-out taxi rank, then the driver cannot be in breach of taxi regulations. I do wonder how many vehicles are ticketed for illegally parking on taxi ranks, a practice which Jeremy Clarkson approves of and indulges in. Jobsworths like the traffic warden and the licencing officer ought to consider their own privileges - particularly the desk-jockeying Licencing Lady. Does she have to worry about "needing the loo" in a huirry? No, she gets up from her desk and uses the staff toilets from which the general public (who pay for them) are excluded. Cabbies need to either impose on private providers for free, or pay to use public loos, or else spend money in shops to use theirs while Council office workers and senior officers get the facility free - as well as a brew and a biccy whenever they want it. Free toilets and free brewing facilities (including the room, kettle, milk etc are a benefit in kind and really ought to be taxed as such! (So are their free parking spaces). What we need here is a jobsworth in Revenue & Customs to have a look at this! Really, is this not just a storm in a teacup (or a P***-pot)? Could it not have been resolved either by the traffic warden (who clearly needs a bit of re-training and "management advice") or by the licencing department by way of a word in the ear, saying 'You've been reported for an infringement here, explain please, OK - be a bit more careful in future.' No, far better to make a mountain out of a molehill! Sadly, what the general public don't realise is that their taxi administration is slanted towards "enforcement" typified by the way roadside checks on taxis are regarded. For instance, an enforcement day resulting in ten stop-notices (for serious vehicle defects) and twenty driver suspensions for whatever reason would be regarded as more successful than only half of that number being found, whereas any other quality control system would surely give the accolade to the LOWEST number of defects. Defects can mean fines, fines mean money! To answer "which or what", if Mr Brown was fifth in line at a three-cab rank, it must follow that his cab was second in the queue to get on the rank, n'est pas? So he wasn't actually on the rank, so he can't be charged for not attending his cab on a rank, but would Darlington be a better place if he hadn't left his cab where it was? Give the toilet a bit of a (hit and) miss. Storm in a wotsit, grow up jobsworths. Just to reply to byjimini, don't worry about the cost of all thiss hoo-haa - its paid for by the revenue the council get from the charges they levvy on the taxi trade, which is the only area I know of where the current cut-backs don't need to apply! dicko45

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psychochief says...
2:31pm Sun 29 Apr 12

"Mr Brown said the alternative would be for him to lose his place in the rank, pay for somewhere to park and then find a toilet. This was something he was unable to do in his condition."

errrrrrrrrrrrrm sorry if im being obtuse, but does the taxi firm hes employed by not have a statutory obligation to provide toilets for their employees :O)

oh no but wait, i dont suppose he could have a bet there lol pfffffffft what a load of old cobblers O_o

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the-big-yin says...
11:31pm Sun 29 Apr 12

he was in the bookies...i saw him playing the bandits..he took a gamble and lost!!!!

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solo.cab says...
3:20am Mon 30 Apr 12

I do think you will find that its an offense to leave any licensed vehicle unattended in a Public Place, that includes a private car park that is used by the Public.
Malcolm

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euro£s says...
9:11am Mon 30 Apr 12

when u got to go u got to go
but do council officials never have the runs.any one rember the story aboute sir alex ferguson
geting caugh short in a traffic que
On the M60 he had to s*** on the hard shoulder so back the. cabbie even a sir has to s***

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The Love Slug says...
12:10pm Mon 30 Apr 12

he should have just opened the car door and cacked onto the market square, had a quick sluice with a baby wipe (depositing it in a litter bin of course) and returned to work. That would sh*t on the council and their rules!

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Unbelieveable says...
9:18pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Maybes lay off the burgers and other **** you stuff your face with Browny then you wont have the skits.

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the-big-yin says...
5:51pm Tue 1 May 12

do we all hate taxi drivers here?
he was in the bookies on the machines...i saw him playing them....ran out when he saw the traffic warden....bull s..t excuse...
but he has not broken any taxi licensing laws so he shoukd be ok

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delboy1977 says...
9:33pm Tue 1 May 12

Darlington **** Council strikes again lol !!!!!

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Darlington taxi driver could lose licence over toilet break (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

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