A TAXI driver who has been working on Bolton for 33 years has had his cab licence suspended for 12 weeks after clocking up a series of traffic offences.

A licensing panel at Bolton Council heard the driver had been convicted of speeding on more than one occasion and of using a vehicle with a defective tyre in February, 2020.

He had failed to report these conviction within the required time to licensing officers.

A licensing meeting report, said: “The driver stated that he had been a taxi driver for 33 years and had never received any complaints from passengers in that time.

“He felt that he was an honest person who had no criminal convictions or other offences apart from traffic ones.

“He explained that he had been confused about the deadline in which to report offence.

“He assured members that there had been no intention to deceive and it had simply been a mistake which he apologised for.

“He also confirmed that the tyres of the vehicle had been checked by a mechanic approximately a week before and was told they were fine.

“Members noted with concern that the driver had accrued nine penalty points on his driving licence since May 2017, three of which had only recently expired.

“They felt he was developing a pattern of bad driving habits and not taking the conditions of his licence seriously.”

The panel concluded that they had reasonable cause to suspend the licence as a warning and a deterrent.