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Cabbies battle for their loo
Taxi drivers ‘can’t spend a penny because of parking wardens’
BATTLE lines have been drawn over a public toilet, popular with taxi drivers, after the cabbies accused the council of blocking them from using it and waging a war on the trade.
Affectionately known as the “iron lung”, the toilet at the corner of Horseferry Road and Regency Street, has been a favourite of the drivers for more than half a century.
But now cabbies say they can’t spend a penny without being stung for £60 because parking wardens are swooping on them as they take a loo break.
In May last year the London Taxi Drivers Association negotiated a deal to use the parking bays outside the toilet at a reduced rate, allowing them to break for a coffee at the nearby Regency Café.
But two weeks ago, the meters were covered with yellow hoods and suspended, attributed to a power cut by the council.
The association’s Stuart Pessok said: “I think they’ve been really heavy handed with us about this. Toilets where taxi drivers can actually stop are vanishing and now there really is a shortage. We are particularly fond of this one because of the café.
“It’s a good place to break up a long shift. There needs to be some understanding about the way we actually work because it is totally unreasonable to get ticketed for going to the loo.
“It seems ridiculous that only last year they agreed to this deal and now they are going back on it. The idea that we should stop outside a shop and go in is impractical and probably means we would get even more fines.”
In August Mayor of London Boris Johnson called on businesses across the capital to open up their toilets to the public to ease the shortage of public facilities.
But the so-called “community toilet scheme” has been patchy in its uptake, and taxi drivers say they would still need to stop somewhere.
A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: “The taxi meters on Regency Place were out of action for a couple of weeks because of a power outage along the same road.
“This problem has now been rectified and the meters are back in operation. Black cabs are subject to parking rules in the same way as other motorists, however, any claim that the council is deliberately seeking to issue parking tickets to taxi drivers is completely unfounded.” |
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