TAXI drivers in Torbay have hit back over council complaints about unruly cabbies using bus bays to pick up and drop off fares.
Dave Green, chairman of the Torbay Licensed Taxi Association, says the authority's complaints would not have been aired if plans to set up a rank on The Strand had been pursued.
Last week the council issued a final warning to taxi operators who regularly flout the highway laws around the harbourside by not sticking to their designated pick-up points,
Council chiefs took them to task and warned they would face fines and possible loss of their licences if the abuses continued.
But Mr Green maintains the council has failed to pursue alternatives which could have stopped the present problems ever surfacing.
He revealed two years ago the association was offered proposals by the Town Hall to re-jig taxi ranks in the Bay.
"It was suggested if we allowed the council to close down some of the ranks — Torquay Library and others at Gerston Road and Hyde Road in Paignton — they would in return allow us to open new ranks, including ones outside Debenhams on The Strand," he explained.
He added: "This was the council's idea which would 'solve all problems'. It was put before the council cabinet, but the private hire industry objected on the grounds they were unable to pick up and drop off their customers.
"The council agreed, and this resulted in no new rank being formed on The Strand."
He said the current problems being faced around the Clocktower area were not just down to the Hackney Carriage vehicles but also private hire ones.
"I have regularly spotted private hire vehicles parked up at The Strand. They are clearly not dropping off and picking up passengers but 'waiting'," he claimed.
"This has been brought to the council's attention over the past few weeks," said Mr Green.
He said the taxi association has consulted with the council about new ranks opening in Torwood Street to try to alleviate congestion problems.
"But this has also been turned down. It is the council's duty to supply taxi ranks and the Hackney trade feels the Town Hall is making it more difficult by the removal of ranks and not forming ones where they are critically needed," he argued.
A taxi rank outside Debenhams on the harbourside would sort out the problem, he felt.
A spokeswoman for Torbay Council said: "We have looked at how we can create more taxi rank spaces.
"During recent public consultations the majority of respondents were against forming a taxi rank on The Strand because there is a high demand for parking.
"We will continue to work closely with the taxi trade to try to keep communication open."
She added: "With regard to private hire vehicles parking on The Strand, the council will deal with them in exactly the same way as any other licensed driver."