'I spent my redundancy money on a £60k taxi licence, but now I could lose it all...' (From York Press)

'I spent my redundancy money on a £60k taxi licence, but now I could lose it all...'

8:34am Monday 6th August 2007 in News By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

HE started a new life as a taxi driver after being made redundant from Terry's chocolate factory - putting his redundancy money towards the £60,000 cost of a licence plate.

But now the Acomb man says he could lose his entire investment if City of York Council goes ahead with deregulation of the city's hackney carriages.

The taxi driver, who does not wish to be identified, said his world collapsed overnight when Terry's shut down in 2005, having worked there for many years.

"I was unemployed for over a year," he said. "I spent six months on a Government training scheme when I saw advert in The Press, saying: Hackney plate for sale, hackney plate for rent and Hackney day driver required.' He initially got the job as a day driver. He said: "I was so happy after a year of unemployment."

He said he subsequently paid £60,000 to buy a plate and spent another £8,000 on a two-year-old estate car to use as a taxi. "This was a lifeline for someone that had been made redundant," he said.

"I know I am not the only one to have chosen this route, with other people from Terry's and Nestlé Rowntree, just ordinary working people, putting in their life savings and redundancy pay to achieve the simple goal of having dignity in employment.

"Before (at Terry's) I had employment. I now work nights and weekends. I have no holiday pay, no sick pay, no company pension. I work 53 hours a week, with about 12 hours waiting on the rank for customers. I probably need to work more hours to cover all the costs. But I have no complaints at all. I have work.

"But is it right I should lose £60,000 in one year just because the council may change policy?"

He said before buying the plate last year he had made inquiries at the council, but had not been told that a review of the taxi licensing system had started in 2005. He claimed deregulation would lose millions from the York economy. "I personally had hoped to sell my plate and rent it back to pay for a garage and a kitchen extension. So that is £60,000 a York builder will not get if de-regulation goes ahead."

He said as well as losing the value of his plates, deregulation would result in many more taxis on the roads, with a negative impact on the environment, and drivers having to work more hours to make the same amount of income.

* Have you invested a large sum in a taxi plate, which you may now risk losing? Phone the newsdesk on 01904 567131, or email newsdesk@ycp.co.uk