Image credit: PC Patrick Quinton A private hire vehicle (PHV) driver has received six penalty points on his driving licence and been ordered to pay £668 in fines and costs following a mobile phone driving offence. The driver was convicted at Bath Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 10 November 2026, following an incident photographed by a member of the public in October 2025. PC Patrick Quinton, of Avon and Somerset Police, reported that the photograph showed a locally licensed pri

A properly approved taximeter protects both the passenger and the driver, but tariff changes, vehicle alterations and poor records can create problems long before anybody disputes a fare. A taxi driver can spend years building a reputation for honest dealing and then find themselves defending a fare because the meter was not working as expected. The passenger sees a figure on the display and rightly assumes the equipment has calculated it correctly, which is the case for the

A former Middlesbrough private hire driver has been disqualified from driving for 30 months after continuing to operate an unlicensed airport transfer business despite having his licence revoked in 2024. Mark Bowler, 51, appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 10 November following a joint investigation by Cleveland Police and Middlesbrough Council’s Licensing Section. Bowler pleaded guilty to numerous offences connected with operating an unlicensed private hire bu