Row over adverts on York taxis (From York Press)

Row over adverts on York taxis

7:58am Thursday 2nd July 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(1)

A FRESH storm is brewing over whether taxi drivers in York can advertise across their vehicles to compensate for a drop in business.

City of York Council licensing chiefs look set to rule that adverts should only be emblazoned on certain parts of the city’s hackney carriage fleet to ensure York’s coat of arms is given enough prominence.

But drivers have reacted angrily to the suggestion and plan to vent their opposition at a meeting of the authority’s licensing and regulatory committee tomorrow, claiming such a move goes against Government legislation.

They also said they believed they would be given free rein to place adverts wherever they liked, as long as they kept the front doors of their cars where the city’s crest is displayed free of other material.

That came after driver Tom Browne took the council to court and won his battle to prevent all taxis being painted black, which opened the door for extra advertising income to be sought. Officers have drawn up a list of options on the issue which will be discussed tomorrow, with the recommended choice being to rule that the sides of hackney carriages should be kept clear of advertising, although it would still be allowed on the front and rear of taxis.

In a report which will go before the committee, the council’s head of licensing and safety Dick Haswell said: “Advertising provides an additional source of income for some taxi vehicle proprietors.

“It is clear that any advertising on the same door panel as the decal [the coat of arms] would more than likely render it unreadable. The decal also affects the quality of the advertising.”

He said the preferred option “will allow full prominence to be given to the decal while still permitting advertising on the front and rear of the vehicle”.

But York Taxi Association has unanimously voted for advertising to be allowed anywhere other than the front door where the crest is displayed, and secretary Graham Phillips said they have been told they should be allowed to do this under the Miscellaneous Provisions Act.

“Our advice from the National Taxi Association is that there are no legal grounds for preventing us advertising wherever we want,” he said.

“We want to promote the city’s crest, which is why we have said we would not advertise on our front doors, but we have to look at ways of attracting extra income because of the current economic situation.”

The newly-formed Independent Taxi Association, which represents 50 of York’s 173 hackney carriage drivers, has also backed allowing adverts on the sides of vehicles.