Thousands of minicab drivers defy ban on using London bus lanes

 
Sign blunder: A London bus lane

'Thousands' of minicab drivers today defied the law and used London bus lanes.

The Addison Lee drivers were protesting against “unfair” regulations that allow only licensed black cabs to use the routes. This was despite a warning from Transport for London that drivers faced prosecution — with persistent offenders at risk of losing their licences.

A spokesman for Addison Lee, Britain’s biggest minicab firm with 3,500 drivers, said “several hundred, if not thousands” of minicabs had entered the lanes this morning.

He added: “We do about 500 to 600 jobs an hour through central London. We estimate about 60 to 70 per cent are using the bus lanes when they have passengers.”

Addison Lee’s founder John Griffin said: “Black taxis are not a public service, they are a business just like minicabs — and we will fight the injustice in the current legal system that subsidises them as if they provided a public service.”

He hit out at “preferential treatment” given to London’s 24,000 black cabs, arguing it prevents fair competition, and said: “The black taxis bully and intimidate TfL into supporting them.”

He said Addison Lee would cover any fines its drivers face — which could be as high as £1,000 per offence.

TfL says allowing minicabs into the lanes would cause traffic chaos for London’s buses, and threatened to pursue anyone defying the ban.

TfL is responsible for enforcing about 40 per cent of the capital’s bus lanes, with borough councils in charge of the remainder. A TfL spokesman disputed Addison Lee’s claims of the level of disobedience, saying: “We are just not seeing private hire vehicles in these lanes.”

Leon Daniels, managing director of surface transport at TfL, said Addison Lee was being “utterly irresponsible”.

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