Spot checks on Eastbourne cabs

The crackdown came after the Herald was told by Eastbourne Borough Council, the licensing authority for taxi and private hire vehicles, that 44 taxi related complaints had been “investigated robustly” by officers in the last 12 months.

A spokesperson said officers checked nine taxis on Friday November 11 and eight in the early hours of Sunday November 13.

All vehicles inspected were displaying plate, door signs and interior plates.

Of the complaints received in the last year, 31 were for bad driving, one for queue jumping, two over drivers’ attitude, one complaint about a driver taking the wrong route, seven cases of harassment, one over problems with an assistance dog and finally, one over property.

A council spokesperson said, “Eastbourne has more than 500 licensed drivers, demonstrating that the number of complaints received is relatively small.

“However, each complaint is robustly investigated to ensure the high standards the council demand are maintained.”

Last week the Herald reported a rise in complaints about some drivers not having a basic knowledge of Eastbourne and using sat navs to find destinations and photographic identity badges not being displayed inside licensed vehicles.

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