A taxi driver says he was unfairly banned from his trade after picking up a an undercover police officer during a sting operation.
Gavin Preston, 39, of Crowell Way, Walton-le-Dale, was given a four-week ban and a £200 fine after picking up the officer outside Squire’s nightclub.
The dad-of-three says he ‘holds his hands up’ over the incident, but says he was dealt with more harshly than other drivers convicted of the same offence.
Gavin says he wants to appeal the ban but cannot work while he is appealing because his license is up for renewal, and licensing bosses will not renew his license because of the ban.
Private hire taxis need to be prebooked through an operator and if a taxi driver picks up someone without this booking their insurance is invalidated.
Gavin said: “It’s fair enough, I did it and I accept the consequences. But it feels like I have been done twice for the same offence.
“I was waiting for my wife outside Squire’s but she had already gone home and her phone wasn’t on. I waited and she didn’t show up.
“Someone approached me and asked if I could take them home and I agreed. He got in the car and told me he was a police officer.
“I’ve got a wife, three kids and a mortgage. I have been a taxi driver for 10 years and I have never been in any trouble before.”
Gavin appeared before Preston Council’s licensing sub-committee, who handed him a four-week ban.
But he says another driver who he appeared alongside was dealt with by a written warning.
He said: “Everyone that went before the committee had committed the same offence but I don’t think they cared about the circumstances. They seemed to be making their own rules up.
“I didn’t tell any lies. I admitted it straight away. The normal procedure is once they have sent you a letter you get 21 days to appeal and then you can go to magistrates’ court.
“But my badge expires tomorrow but they won’t give me a new one because of my ban, which means I can’t work while I am appealing.
“Under normal circumstances you can carry on working while you are appealing but that takes 21 days, and my ban is only for 28 days.
“My appeal is my right. I think I was treated unfairly because there was another guy up for the same offence as me and he got a written warning.
“There doesn’t seem to be any pattern to it. I was told it depended how the committee felt on the day.”
A spokesman for Preston Council said as the case was still an ongoing matter they were not able to comment.
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