Wolverhampton taxis in Macc?

You may have noticed there appear to be an awful lot of Wolverhampton licensed taxis operating in Macclesfield.

In fact, there are so many, that the West Midland’s authority was brought in as part of a police taxi check – ‘Operation Withdraw’.

Since the deregulation of taxis in 2015 it’s become a bit of a free-for-all for taxi licences.

Prior to this licences were issued in each town or city and were strictly controlled and monitored. This ensured there wasn’t over supply and meant local authorities ‘policed’ the system through their own licensing offices.

During the operation police inspected taxis at train stations and ranks in Macclesfield and Poynton.

With the assistance of Wolverhampton Council officers they carried out safety, identification and document checks – resulting in 25 out of the 60 taxis checked being issued with traffic offence reports.

Local taxi drivers, many of them independent operators, have complained for years about drivers licensed to the Midlands authority working in Macclesfield.

Since deregulation, taxi drivers seeking a licence, can shop around for the cheapest licence anywhere in the country, then work wherever they choose.

Following the police operation, Inspector Zoe Bowden addressed a meeting of Macclesfield Town Council, saying: “We found a lot of Macclesfield taxis were licensed in Wolverhampton so for the last operation we brought Wolverhampton licensing down. We got Wolverhampton to check their conditions, we have a full footprint of the people who are operating in our community.”

It was reported in 2023 that lower fees and faster processing times meant that Wolverhampton Council was being inundated with licence applications from outside the area.

Operation Withdraw resulted in traffic offence reports for a variety of offences including tyres below the legal tread depth, driving without due care and attention, using a pedestrianised zone as a short cut, misuse of hazard lights and drivers not wearing a seatbelt.

Inspector Nick Rogers said: “The aim of this operation is to provide reassurance to those using taxis in the Macclesfield and surrounding areas, that they are safe to use and roadworthy with enforcement action being taken where appropriate.

“It was really reassuring to see that so many of the taxis that operate in our towns were compliant with the appropriate legislation, with the few found to be in breach being swiftly dealt with.

“Our officers will continue to support the legitimate taxi drivers in and around Macclesfield with this operation. In fact, we expect we will use this tactic in other Cheshire East areas now that we have seen its benefits in keeping people safe.“