Furious taxi drivers told faulty cabs must stay off the road

DOZENS of taxi drivers have been told their vehicles may be off the road indefinitely because of a fault which can cause them to burst into flames.

A total of 44 TX4-type cabs have been taken off the streets in Edinburgh, and yesterday those affected were "red-stickered", which saw them issued with a notice branding them "unfit for purpose".

David Gillan, 45, and his brother Robert, 36, share a taxi affiliated to Central Taxis.

Robert was driving the taxi when it caught fire on Frogston Road West in February and the pair are trying to recoup £10,000 of lost earnings and expenses caused by the faulty cab.

They had the vehicle repaired, and it was checked along with all affected TX4s by the Edinburgh Cab Office last week, only for it to be taken off the road again yesterday.

David said: "It came across the meter that all the cab drivers were to go into the office.

"Now I can't use the vehicle until further notice. It is my sole income and it is very difficult to get my head round it. I'm just worrying how I'm going to put food on the table for my family.

"Until such time (cab makers] LTI can guarantee these taxis are not going to catch fire again, none of us are working. They don't know what the problem is."

The problem, which affects TX4 cabs with a 56 registration, has also hit 500 cabs in London.

Mr Gillan said Transport for London was discussing compensation for the London taxi drivers affected, but said there had been no similar moves in Edinburgh.

Another driver, who did not want to be named, said: "All TX4 black cabs have been ordered back to the cab office.

"They've never done this before. The drivers are livid. They had the clean bill of health when they were checked out last week."

LTI has launched an investigation into the cause of the fires, which have affected at least two Edinburgh cabs.

A spokesman for LTI said: "LTI appreciates the seriousness of this situation and the impact this decision will have on drivers and owners and would like to assure customers that it is applying every effort to resolve the problem.

"An extensive study is being conducted involving both LTI and external expert engineers to establish the root cause of and liability for the problem.

"We recommend that drivers of the affected '56' plate vehicles make arrangements to share or rent another black cab to mitigate their losses and retain an accurate record of any costs incurred. When the engineering investigation has established liability LTI will be able to advise affected drivers of what compensation will be available and from whom."

Edinburgh City Council confirmed 44 vehicles were taken off the road. Lothian and Borders Police, which runs the cab office, made no comment.