A mysterious island with a fascinating past lies less than an hour from the centre of Manchester.
02.09.2023 - 06:53 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Qamar Ghaftor has been driving a black cab in Manchester for 25 years. But recently he's noticed a new trend that worries him - more and more taxi drivers are using 'out of town' registration plates.
"Look down the road outside the Printworks at night," he says. "For every Manchester plate, you'll see nine Wolverhampton plates."
In March it emerged that almost a third of England's private hire taxi drivers are registered in Wolverhampton. The city has even had to take on 20 new staff to cope with demand.
Shah Iftikar is among the cabbies in Greater Manchester to have got registration from the West Midlands borough. The Uber driver, 46, told the M.E.N he thought the Wolverhampton licensing regime was 'easier' than Manchester's, but insisted there was nothing wrong with the practice.
"It's legal, the government passed a law. We're not doing anything wrong," he said.
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As of the end of the last financial year there were almost 27,000 private hire taxi drivers with a Wolverhampton plate - around 4,000 from Greater Manchester alone. It comes after the Government ruled in 2015 that drivers could register anywhere in the country, not just in their local area.
Many Manchester cabbies we spoke to claim private hire drivers are registering in Wolverhampton because it's easier to pass the test and safety standards are lower. Wolverhampton council has strongly denied those claims.
Since the change in the law, Wolverhampton council says it has invested in a digital licensing service, making it much quicker to register there. Whatever the reason for the surge in taxis using 'out of town' plates, Manchester's black cab drivers, who by law
A mysterious island with a fascinating past lies less than an hour from the centre of Manchester.
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