Plans have been unveiled to honour the best taxi drivers in a Black Country borough by bringing back the borough’s Taxi Driver of the Year competition.

People who regularly use taxis in Dudley will be able to vote for the drivers they think go above and beyond the call of duty, with the best honoured with prizes at a plush dinner and presentation evening hosted by the Mayor of Dudley. That is the vision of Councillor Adrian Turner, who suggested the return of the competition at a meeting of the authority’s taxi committee earlier this week.

It used to run every year but was scrapped in 2001 due to a lack of interest.

But Councillor Turner said such an awards ceremony would be a perfect way to reward the best taxi drivers – and push up standards in the borough at the same time.

“Over the last three or four years we have really pushed taxi drivers and taxi firms to make things safer and better for passengers, as a result their costs have gone up considerably,” he said.

“I believe that it is only fair that the taxi drivers now get rewarded with good service by being recognised.”

“Taxi drivers in general get a bad press, we only tend to hear about the bad things regarding drivers.

“But there are many good things going on. As a driving instructor I see the taxi drivers helping the old ladies take the shopping into the house on a weekly basis.

“Some people use the same drivers all the time and it would be good if they had a vehicle to vote for them and give them some recognition.

“I also think such a competition would push standards up as drivers would want to do well.” The idea of the competition will be discussed further at the next meeting of the taxis committee in April, where members will discuss whether to take the idea forward or not.