Court upholds taxi licence decision
The owner of a taxi firm which has had its licence revoked has seen the decision upheld by magistrates after he challenged it in court.
Councillors in Wolverhampton ordered for the licence of Westside Radio Cars to be revoked in October but Tahir Hussain, the owner of the firm, had appealed to magistrates.
It was revoked after a council investigation found they had four uninsured cars operating over a weekend in July last year.
Mr Hussain had appealed the original decision, which was made by the licensing sub-committee in October, and appeared at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court to hear his fate.
But magistrates upheld the ruling made by the committee, saying he was not a 'fit and proper' person to run the firm.
Mrs Sarah Hardwick, who represented Wolverhampton City Council at the hearing, said Mr Hussain had failed to provide the correct insurance documents when the council visited their base. She told the court that the trips the four uninsured cars carried out jeopardised public safety.
She said: "Under council guidelines, they can revoke a license for multiple breaches of guidelines, and the council believe there were multiple breaches as a number of journeys were made across the weekend."
She said Mr Hussain accepted that the cars he was using from another company, Motor Accident Claims Ltd, were not properly insured.
Chairman of the bench, Dr Alison Felce ordered Mr Hussain to pay £2,125.52 in costs, but he said he will now appeal to the crown court.
Speaking after the hearing, he said: "I have 21 days now to appeal which I will do. I feel as though we have been treated unfairly and I will take it as far as I need to, to clear my name."
