A London licensed private hire driver has been reported for accepting a job that wasn’t pre-booked through a licensed operator.
Plain clothed officers from the Metropolitan Police Taxi and Private Hire Night Duty Team caught the unnamed man in the Capital's vibrant Covent Garden on Saturday 1 February.
Unlicensed taxi and private hire enforcement teams have stepped up operations with a number of similar offences being reported.
Friday night saw a man posing as a minicab driver outside of a busy lap dancing bar in Shoreditch reported and facing prosecution.
On 26 January, another private hire driver was caught by plain clothed officers accepting an un-booked job at the UK's busiest airport, Heathrow.
Private hire drivers are only allowed to pick up fares that have been pre-booked through a licensed operator.
Picking up a job that's not booked in advance is illegal and invalidates the hire and reward insurance - which is required by all taxi and private hire drivers.
All drivers reported will face prosecution, are likely to be fined and could face a ban.
Image credit: Geograph - N Chadwick
