Limo drivers stopped at prom in safety blitz

Limo drivers dropping off teenage prom-goers were stopped and their cars checked to make sure they were safe as part of a crackdown in South Staffordshire.

Chauffeurs of limos and novelty vehicles were pulled over after dropping youngsters off at a school's end-of-year ball. Two firms will now face further investigation after being unable to provide the correct paperwork during the get-tough action. The clampdown, comes after complaints that youngsters could be in danger from unvetted drivers.

Michael Sullivan, the licensing officer who led last night's operation at the posh Moat House Hotel in Acton Trussell, said: "Proms are being targeted because they provide a unique opportunity to vet a large number of limo companies in one place in a relatively short space of time.

"Firms which offer a limo or novelty car service without the right licensing, insurance or vetting are a danger to other road users and to the people they carry about, and when that is children it is particularly worrying."

Two companies - one from Small Heath, Birmingham and the other from Stoke-on-Trent - will now be asked to provide correct paperwork after the safety checks last night.

The prom was being thrown for year 11 pupils from the Blessed William Howard High School, in Stafford.

The first, at the Blakelands Country House, in Bobbington, saw two firms, both from Birmingham, fall under investigation.

Mr Sullivan said: "It's been a success so far. Not only in the fact we may have found companies which may not be following the correct procedures, but also in that it is a deterrent to any limo firms which think they can get away without following those procedures."

Mark Pile, a driver with First World Limos, based in Bilston, said: "There's lots of drivers about who don't play by the rules, and they're essentially taking business away from the rest of us.

"I'd welcome more of these operations, frankly, if it meant taking more of them off the road."

Any companies found to be flouting the law are being warned that they face criminal proceedings at a later date.