Roger

He wasn't following the etiquette of the 'rank' ~ which is to go from the front. I personally haven't seen a 'local' driver calling out from the back of the 'rank' to hijack a fare. For that reason I thought it relevant. Just as valid a point is that the local drivers' don't need a sat nav to go to some very well known street in Whitecross, or Belmont, or wherever. Someone who's not been here long, or who might be one of the one's who seem to have migrated from Worcester might well do. Previous moans on the internet about that. Trying to warp my comment into some sort of racist moan is wide of the mark. On a similar note I was in Liverpool yesterday and I asked to be dropped off at a particular pub. Not some random pub. But the one that was the birthplace of Liverpool FC. Driver hadn't got a clue where that was. Foreign driver.

I totally agree with you Paul. I think it should be expressly written into the local taxi rules that if you ply for hire on a rank then you are obliged to accept any passenger (subject to them being in a reasonably fit state) ~ regardless of journey length. I've read them and can't see such a clause. As it happens my son was in your establishment last weekend and he went to the Charcoal Grill afterwards (past 11PM) and booked a taxi on the phone (as it's tariff 1) to go an ultra short journey to Aylestone Hill ~ with his kebab. He was quoted 10 minutes but it never turned up (reason unknown) so he decided to walk back to the rank to reluctantly get a tariff 2 rate. He got as far as Union Walk and the 'rank' had snaked as far back as 'The Wash House' on Union Walk. Which of course is not any sort of rank. It's just the drivers' pleasing themselves and forming an illegal rank due to no enforcement as such + the fact that there are too many taxis. He was hailed by some Eastern European taxi driver near the rear of the queue who asked him if he was looking for a 'taxi'. Which of course he said yes to as he couldn't be bothered to walk to the front of the queue. Total shambles of a situation. If there is no local regulation over short fares then I would be against naming and shaming someone for not doing a morally correct course of action. Plus naming and shaming will polarize opinion like in the Cardiff story today ... I would expect their clients' to possibly be in a questionable state. I would have no problem in a driver refusing a fare who was incapable ~ or who might throw up in the cab. Every case to be judged on it's own merits tho obviously. Why can't they just escort/carry the client to the flop house in Gaol Street? Purposely set up for sorting drunks' out ...

Anecdotal reports elsewhere that the hot food places are open until 4AM on Commercial Road tonight ...

Thanks for yet another down vote SF! Where have I ever said it was an 18-25 issue ... ?

I think keeping football at Edgar Street would be good for the City. That is the long term gain as opposed to any short term gain that the Council would get from selling the leases for another use.

Here is another view from a person at a 'thinktank' ... From the same article ... Observer I don't buy into the argument that cheap supermarket wine and beer is causing the 2 or 3 AM attendances at the flop house on Gaol Street or Hereford A+E ... There may have been some early evening 'pre-loading' at home but these people will have then gone into town and ended up in their sorry state by drinking late at the pubs or Clubs. And the stats reveal that Countrywide that issue is being ignored.

Difference of opinion here ... Medical Chief wants the drunks' 'banged up' .... As opposed to the local soft soap approach ... All a bit un-joined up thinking ....

Very difficult subject .... I'll probably say more when it's not Christmas Day .... Merry Christmas!

How drunk do you have to be for a barman to say no? Just 10 convictions for serving customers who have had too much Britain’s binge-drinking culture is being fuelled by bar staff breaking the law to serve customers who are already drunk, it has been claimed. Just 10 people were prosecuted last year for selling alcohol to someone who was intoxicated, official figures show. Daily Mail

Rubbish ... If the Charcoal Grill had a later licence then I would guess local people would go there instead of KFC ... The fella who runs that has been there for years! Obviously I'm not party to his financial situation tho!

Of course they support it! It's a benevolent 'fill in' measure as the money has run out for the established routes! I object to plugging gaps in essential services with free labour ...

Normal activities are now being adversely affected by these cop budget cuts ... Whether it be a chip shop staying open late or a 17.30 football match ... Twitter

Bennetts Hill parking stand-off: Defiant driver WINS battle with parking officials The driver who sat in his car on the back of a tow-truck for more than EIGHT HOURS has won his marathon battle. Matthew Sanders, 34, from Macclesfield, Cheshire sparked massive debate with his one-man protest on Tuesday. The double-glazing salesman had illegally parked in a disabled bay on Bennetts Hill in Birmingham City Centre. A Birmingham Mail investigation discovered that Mr Sanders is no stranger to civil liberties protests, and has had affiliations to a number of groups including Lawful Rebellion and The British Constitution Group. He is also the founder of a website called Beat the Bailiffs and Banks. Birmingham Mail Seemed on topic to me!

Good ... They are doing a good job in my opinion. And another thing ... That is someone's view of the owner of defunct HUFC ... They are certainly not on their own ...

I've just read the Council 20 page taxi/private hire rules' here and can't see any mention about refusing short trips. I've also read the 'penalty point scheme' here where there is no offence listed for refusing a fare. There is one for 'Failure to proceed to another rank when at the time of arrival rank is full' (page 9 byelaw 7b) which obviously applies in Bewell Street outside Tesco where it gets crazy with drivers' ignoring that constantly. Not much Council enforcement going on there in my view ... Regarding enforcement here is their website extract: 'Powers of local authorities to enforce through existing bylaws, conditions, Penalty Points Scheme Appendix 1 and statutory instruments;' Link here Which appears to totally contradict their Twitter response which limits enforcement to The Police or by moaning at the taxi firms ... However it does not address the fact that there appears no visible local policy to outlaw the refusal of short fares ...

In my experience the cops self generate any taxi licence infringements by finding them themselves. The common ones are not displaying badges/not having first aid kit or fire extinguisher in the boot/smoking in the cab etc. The offence report then gets forwarded to the Council for consideration. If you've got a complaint about a fare being turned away I suppose the cab driver is not going to be there to speak to if a cop receives the report so I don't think it's unreasonable then to get the fare to complain direct to The Council. I suppose this all hinges on the exact wording of the up to date taxi rules'. Which I haven't read. I might just dig them out on the web as this seems to be a hot topic on the internet at the moment.

Hereford Times have been reporting today that Andy Lonsdale is considering an appeal against the Winding Up order. He is currently unavailable for comment however. Link to latest story His track record to date has been pretty miserable so don't hold your breath about this promised £1M investment miraculously appearing any time soon ...

This complaint has been put to The Council on Twitter and they have given an Official response:

A later opening would only hit the sandwich shops (everyone prefers hot to cold after a night on the ale) ... 2AM - 4AM trade could be fought out by whoever jumped thru the Licensing hoops that may or may not be relaxed ...

Had to turn back from Aylestone Hill (from Moreland Ave jct) tonight at 6.30 PM ... Gridlock ... My best guess it was the temp. lights by the Broadleys Pub ... Then got stuck in a blockage in Kingsway ... Road network is ultra fragile in Hereford ...

There are too many taxis in this City. Full stop. Exacerbated in slow periods when they clog up the usual places ... The problem was created years ago ... Time has long since passed when drivers' having a laugh should have the permit revoked ...

Good advice if you follow the book ... I wouldn't as it's not Public enough ... Take the cab badge number off the bumper (sometimes driver badge is not easy to get) and Tweet the info to @HfdsCouncil and tag it #taxi #Hereford ... You probably won't get a reply but it will be out there ... ;-)

It's gonna be barely over the minimum fare to do the distance quoted. If not the minimum. So not more than £3 ... Coming back to a viable rank after a short trip then entails a wait that the driver has worked out is not worth it ... It would boil down to the 'down time' entailed .... At the back of the queue ... I would be the first to condemn the situation as described by Paul but I think that's the way it is ... I don't use taxis in Hereford as I live within walking distance to town but I use taxis/private hire quite a lot in Liverpool due to my lifestyle and 50% of the time I have an issue ~ wrong tariff/wrong route etc ... I just take the vehicle taxi plate number off the bumper after a 'rip off' attempt and moan direct to The Mayor. Via Twitter ... Not the Official method but the whole World can read the moan ...

I agree with a lot of your post ... It is a 'stuck record' and I don't think posters' like keeping it stuck. The Chains/Independent retailers have shook out to this 1.30 AM finish and there seems to be enough trade for them all to trade in a viable fashion ... Hypothetically if the late night stuff was drastically relaxed then it might well end up with KFC and Maccies being the ones that stuck it out longest for the 2 AM to 4 AM trade. But how could/would that affect the existing 1.30 AM limit traders' ? ... Like Charcoal Grill or whatever ... ?