The Gloucester Taxi Website

A DECISION on whether to transfer the licensing of Cotswold taxis to Gloucester City Council will be made on Monday.

Cotswold District Council currently issues licences for private hire and Hackney Carriages but officers are struggling to cope with the huge workload.

It has had to employ a contractor to assist during the peak times of March and April at an annual costs of £1,800.

CDC’s Licensing team leader Phil Cooper said: “The licensing team are under increasing pressure due to the considerable workload. This situation has come about primarily due to legislative changes and an increase in recent years of outdoor festival events taking place in Cotswold district.”

The estimated cost of transferring the administration of taxi licensing to Gloucester City Council is £18,495 a year.

This cost would be covered by the income generated by the service.

If the service is not transferred, CDC will consider the option of employing a part-time staff member to undertake the work.

CDC’s licensing committee will discuss the transfer on Monday at 10am.

Two people have been arrested over an attack on a taxi driver who was sprayed in the eyes and blinded temporarily.

The attack happened in Milton Keynes on Sunday and the pair have been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Three men met the taxi in Gloucester Road, Wolverton, and attacked the driver, a police spokesman said.

One of them sprayed a substance in his eyes causing burning. The driver’s car keys and £15 were stolen. Police are warning drivers to be careful.

Police said officers believe this attack is linked to a similar incident in the Bradwell Abbey on 3 August when a taxi driver was also sprayed in the eyes but managed to drive off.

Det Con Wendy Fellowes said: “We would urge taxi companies in Milton Keynes not to take bookings from withheld numbers unless they are established customers and ensure they get a full name.

“Two people have been arrested in connection with the attacks and they are currently on police bail while we carry out further inquiries.”
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BRITISH ENERGY has been hit hard by outages at some of its nuclear power stations.

Pre-tax profits at the nuclear electricity generator in April, May and June were £101million — down from £296million in the same months last year.

It followed stoppages at its Hartlepool, Heysham 1 and Dungeness B power stations.

But chief executive Bill Coley insisted “good progress” had been made towards resolving the issues.

He said talks over a possible takeover were continuing despite the recent rejection by some BE shareholders of a £12billion bid by French power giant EDF. Shares rose 1.5p to 706.5.

Source

A 20-year-old woman was hospitalised after being attacked by a female gang yesterday.

Police are appealing for witnesses following the, which took place in Victoria Street, Gloucester, at around 2am.

A police spokeswoman said the victim, from Gloucester, was walking home from a friend’s house when she was attacked.

“A large group of mostly black and Asian women forced her to the ground and assaulted her by kicking and punching her in an unprovoked attack,” she said.

“A male witness on a bicycle helped the victim get away from the group and called her a taxi.”
Click here!

Police would like to speak to this man as he may be able to help them with their enquiries.

The victim went to Gloucester Royal Hospital to receive treatment for bruising to her eyes and left arm.

Officers are appealing for anyone who witnessed the assault or who has information about the incident to contact police on 0845 090 1234, quoting incident 45 of August 11, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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A Gloucestershire man has been arrested after dialling 999 to complain about being overcharged by a taxi driver.

The 23-year-old then made a second call claiming he would set himself on fire and police cars, an ambulance and fire crew went to his Mickleton home.

The man has been fined £80 for wasting police time with the calls, which officers said was “deeply frustrating”.

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You really have to work hard to misunderstand Steve Earle: He’s one of folk and alternative country’s most outspoken performers — and, some might say, a professional troublemaker or, even, political agitator.
He does not evade questions or mince words, whether he’s talking about the driving habits of folks in Greater Boston (“They drive like taxi drivers in Mexico City,” he says, “and that’s some of the worst driving I’ve ever seen in the world.”) or his beloved — and currently third-place —Yankees (“My sister lives in Boston, so I have to deal with that crap from my brother-in-law whenever I come to town,” he says. I’m in a good place. Earle, who performs Aug. 15 at the Theater at Newburyport High School in his first-ever North Shore show, is furiously animated, and apocalyptic in his language, when discussing the current election, saying the United States is completely polarized and unable — or unwilling — to declare what it wants to be in the future, which translates into whether there will be a future.
“It’s my job,” he says.
Musical school of hard knocks
Earle broke through with “Guitar Town,” his first album, which was a critical and popular success. The follow-up albums “Exit 0” and “Copperhead Road” built on that foundation
The latter included “John Walker Blues,” a song that looked at — and some say celebrated — the so-called American Taliban, John Walker Lindh. “Washington Square Serenade,” which won the 2008 Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, is something completely different, or so it seems at first blush. It opens with “Tennessee Blues,” updating the title track of Earle’s 1986 debut, and establishes the sense of another fresh start. The album closes with a frightening cover of Tom Waits’ “Way Down in the Hole.” Compared with “Revolution” and “Jerusalem,” it is a happier musical document, one that reflects his current situation: happily (and newly) married and settled down in Greenwich Village — a spiritual home, of sorts. He lives in the exact iconic location pictured on the “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album, and, unseen but far more dangerous for Earle, is what the singer-songwriter describes as “the best guitar store in New York.”

But, no, Earle hasn’t lost his political edge, even on this much-happier album. In “Steve’s Hammer,” a song dedicated to folk icon Pete Seeger, Earle looks to a future when “ the air don’t choke you, and the ocean’s clean / And the kids don’t die for gasoline.”
And in “City of Immigrants,” he takes on hot-button issues like legislating English as a national language and what he says is an inherent racism behind calls for rougher immigration policy. “I don’t define myself as a political songwriter. I’ve written unapologetically political albums in the past. This time I’ve written an unapologetically personal album.”
But the thing that distinguishes “Washington Square Serenade” from other Earle albums, aside from its loving embrace of life and love itself, is the production, which includes beats and other hip-hop effects, laid down by producer — and former Dust Brother — John King, who has also produced the Beastie Boys and Beck.
About half the songs on the album use hip-hop technology. The rest are straight folk. On the current tour, he’s performing solo, mostly — he’s using turntablist Neil McDonald producing the beats. The reaction has been pretty good — no Dylan-at-Newport-circa-1966 calls of apostasy or sell-out. But will the beats become a permanent part of Earle performances?
Hard to say.
The next album will be a collection of tunes by the influential, and difficult-to-characterize, singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, “which I think I can handle myself,” says Earle. “Who knows?” says Earle.

Read the full story

Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Offices in Gloucestershire
List of local Gloucestershire Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Offices – The drivers first point of contact.

Cheltenham Borough Council
Municipal Offices
The Promenade
CHELTENHAM Glos
GL50 1PP

Licensing Officer Nigel Denby

Tel: Cheltenham (01242) 262626
Fax: Cheltenham (01242) 264210

Cotswold District Council
Trinity Road
CIRENCESTER Glos
GL7 1PX

Licensing Officer Peter Eldridge

Tel: Cirencester (01285) 623416
Fax: Cirencester (01285) 623911

Forest of Dean District Council
High Street
COLEFORD Glos
GL16 8HG

Licensing Officer Frank Russell

Tel: Forest of Dean (01594) 812445
email: licensing@fdean.gov.uk

Gloucester City Council
Herbert Warehouse
GLOUCESTER

Licensing Team

Tel: Gloucester (01452) 396307
email: enviro@gloucester.gov.uk

Stroud District Council
Ebley Mill
Westward Road
STROUD Glos
GL5 4UB

Licensing Officer Mark Arnot

Tel: Stroud (01453) 754379
Fax: Stroud (01453) 754935

Tewkesbury Borough Council
Community Services Directorate
Gloucester Road
TEWKESBURY Glos
GL20 5TT

Licensing Officer Julia Balster

Tel: Tewkesbury (01684) 295010

The Driver Assessment Taxi/Private Hire application form should be given to you by your licensing officer, if a copy is not in your pack one can be obtained by printing your own form from the link above, or by ‘Contacting Us in Road Safety – see the link on the right of this page.

Current cost of the Taxi/Private Hire driver assessement is £25.00 for a 1 hour assessement, please return your completed form to us with your payment or ‘Contact Us’ to arrange the assessment and pay by credit/debit card.

The world’s largest military air show, The Royal International Air Tattoo has been cancelled for the first time in its history due to unusually heavy rainfall and flooding

Just hours after the Queen left the opening of the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, its directors and police have taken the decision to call off its first day.

Director Tim Prince said the decision was made jointly with the police after the public car parks and the airfield itself became waterlogged.

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Last month the owners of a wheel-clamping firm went to prison.
Rebecca Meakin and Cameron Khan were both convicted by Judge
Simon Tonking to Four and a half years on charges of Blackmail
and Conspiracy to Blackmail.

If you’ve ever been wheel clamped you’ll probably know how it
feels.

I’m glad that this prison sentence has happened because the
majority of wheel clamping firms use, frankly, extortionate
tactics to get their hands on your money and are generally
regarded as a major public nuisance, seemingly able to commit
crime — only with the law on their side.

Hopefully a few of the more prudent clampers will quit while
they are ahead, or at least stop using the worst of their
tactics.

The Judge said regulation of the UK Clamping industry was
“far from rigorous”, and added “the boundaries between what is
lawful and unlawful are un-clear”.

If you’ve ever been clamped or had any clamping “company” trying
to extort money from you, I am sure you will join in
commending this sentence.

Ian O’Grady does have some template letters that
are designed to recover your money if you ever get clamped.

We’ve not actually tested them ourselfs yet on a wheel clamping
firm (I must get around to doing that!), but I understand that
they are very effective.

You can also adapt them to any circumstance where you feel that
money that has been taken from you using extortionate tactics,
to get your money refunded.

If you would like the link, it is:

http://www.justiceforeveryone.co.uk/wheelclamps

Source: Adam Blair
Founder, BeatTheSpeedTrap

P.S. Ian is giving a 10 year trial on this product, which I
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