Bolton Private Hire Association would like to comment regarding the Private Hire article on October 12 headline: Bolton licensing crackdown to keep the public safe.

Over the last two years our Private Hire Association has made numerous formal requests during our meetings with Cllr Nick Peel and other licensing employees of Bolton Council to make it compulsory for all Private Hire vehicles to have CCTV.

This if introduced would ensure safety for both passengers and drivers. Drivers get attacked, verbally and racially abused on a regular basis and CCTV in the vehicles would act as a deterrent and if needed evidence for drivers and passengers.

Our vehicles are attacked regularly by youngsters around Bolton who regularly throw stones at taxis, putting the lives of the drivers and the passengers at risk and yet Bolton Council talks about public safety with very little commitment.

We have also asked the council to introduce pricing/fare meters which calculate fares in all Private Hire vehicles to avoid passenger driver confusion and over charging which leads to complaints, arguments all this can be easily avoided with the introduction of these meters. We have been denied this request by Bolton Council.

The requests we make to Bolton Council are usually about public and driver safety but are dealt with at a very slow pace which we are constantly reminding them of.

So we question the council's true commitments to public safety.

Our CCTV request is just one example of a request made approximately two years ago and if implemented there would be fewer drivers going in front of the licensing committee.

There are 1,850 Private Hire drivers in Bolton. Of those, 61 appeared in front of the committee which equates to less than five per cent out. Of those, some drivers appealed and had their decisions overturned and badges reinstated.

The majority of the drivers do a fantastic job and at times go over and beyond the call of duty, helping the elderly, assisting the disabled without getting any recognition from the council or the media.

We in the past have striked because of the council's unfair policies and the slow progress in making those changes has been our complaint from the outset and we are happy for somebody from The Bolton News to sit in on our meetings to follow progress on concerns raised by our association on issues relating to public and driver safety so that you may understand our frustrations.

BPHA