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Standoff brings street to standstill
It wasn't High Noon – it was 9pm on Thursday at The Boulevard in Frenchwood.
Drivers of a silver Mercedes Benz taxi and a single decker Stagecoach bus stood their grounds, refusing to budge their vehicles and bringing traffic chaos.
The taxi driver was heard yelling at the woman bus driver, demanding she give way though there were clear driveways for both to back up.
Eyewitness Heather Schulz said: "I witnessed a Mexican stand-off between a taxi driver and a Stagecoach bus outside in my normally quiet little street.
"I assumed it was two cars refusing to give way to each other, but when I looked out my bedroom window, I saw our local number 29 bus nose-to-nose with a New City taxi and the driver getting back into his cab after venting his anger at the female driver.
"As you can imagine, cars kept coming at either end of the stand-off and had to reverse.
"Several of my neighbours bravely tried to reason with the taxi driver, but to no avail and other drivers tried to talk calmly with the bus driver to find out why she couldn't reverse."
Stagecoach had to send a manager down to find out what was going on as the stand-off rumbled on for 30 minutes.
The bus company's north west managing director Chris Bowles told the Evening Post: "We believe the incident was caused by a taxi driver who willfully obstructed our vehicle on its side of the road.
"We really can't sympathise with this sort of behaviour – we had to take a supervisor to the site. We feel annoyed that people are preventing us in doing our normal duties."
Mr Bowles said the size of the bus made it difficult for it to back up but the saga was finally resolved after the taxi driver was persuaded to reverse away.
A spokesman for New City Taxis, based at Moor Lane, was not available for comment.
Were you on the bus or in the taxi? – Call the Lancashire Evening Post on 01772 838106 or e-mail lep.newsdesk@lep.co.uk.
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: -3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South east
