Fast taxi driver refused express licence
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• A Monmouthshire taxi driver who proposed to operate a minibus service and allowed only five minutes to cover five miles was told by the South Wales Traffic Commissioners in Cardiff, to stick to taxis.
Mr. W. D. Mason, trading as Gwent Taxis of Cwmbran, applied for an express carriage licence to operate a service from Coed Eva, Cwmbran, to carry cleaning staff to Caerleon College at 6.30 am.
He said the cleaners were continually missing the Western Welsh bus and telephoning for a taxi. He had been providing for the past nine months a seven-seater minibus several mornings a week and if he could obtain a licence he could use a 12seater and provide a regular and more adequate service.
Turning down the application, the chairman of the Traffic Commissioners, Mr Ronald R. Jackson, said there was no evidence of need and added: "If we could suggest it respectfully why don't you stay as a taxi operator?"
* Sunderland Chamber of Trade has protested against the proposal by National Carriers Ltd, to close its depot at Monkwearmouth, Sunderland and transfer the facilities to Gateshead. The Chamber said that the proposal would disrupt delivery services to Sunderland, A town like Sunderland, with its multi-million-pound shopping centre should have its own depot and not depend on Gateshead.