17 reports of alleged sexual assault or rape by Wolverhampton-licensed taxi drivers between August and November 2025
In the last three months, 17 reports of alleged sexual assault or rape have been made against Wolverhampton-licensed private hire drivers.
The shocking figures have been revealed via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by a London-based taxi driver, and covered the period between August 11 and November 11. Nine of the 17 alleged assaults were related to passengers.
With nearly 34,000 private hire vehicles licensed by the local authority on the road in 2025 - 96 per cent of which are operating outside the city - Wolverhampton has been dubbed the "taxi capital" of the UK and criticised by other councils.
A spokesperson for Wolverhampton Council said: “Safeguarding is our number one priority in taxi licensing, and we adhere to all standards as set by Government.
“None of these drivers had a criminal conviction on their records when their licence was issued. Once aware of the allegations, we ensured all drivers surrendered their licence within one working day.
“The rate of such reports against our drivers is lower than the rate of complaints against drivers of other licensing authorities.
“Our policy is not to grant licences to anyone with a sexual offence or on a barred list. Our application process includes vigorous checks, and we are the only licensing authority to carry out daily DBS checks on all of our drivers.
“We recently gave evidence to the Government’s Transport Select Committee stating that the law needs urgent reform and have called for the introduction of uniform standards, uniform fees and improved cross-border enforcement powers.
“We stress that it is illegal for the council to refuse applicants a taxi licence on the basis of where they live.”
The BBC reported that the original FOI was submitted by Mark White, a London black cab taxi driver and committee member for the London Cab Drivers Club who questioned the safety of passengers when travelling in a Wolverhampton-licensed cab.
A Wolverhampton Council spokesperson said: "Public safety is of paramount importance to us – we undertake compliance operations throughout the year, across the country, including Friday and Saturday nights to ensure safety for visitors to the night-time economy.
"Officers from the respective licensing authority are invited to these operations and we often work in partnership with the local police force and representatives from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
"We use automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras to tackle unlawful driving and parking by licensees.
"Officers are equipped with laser tyre-tread readers to tackle illegal tyres, as well as infra-red cameras to detect ghost plates. 3D/4D licence plates are also prohibited for this reason.
"We are an official TyreSafe supporter and work to educate the trade on the importance of safe tyres, taking enforcement action where necessary.
"We have never refused a request from a licensing authority for a compliance operation in their area."
