Maidenhead & Windsor

The owner of a Maidenhead taxi company has been fined £1,000 – reduced to £750 following his guilty plea – after one of his drivers was stopped while driving without a licence and driver's badge.

Asif Iqbal, the proprieter of Golden Executive Cars, a licensed private hire company of Zaman House, 1 Church Road, Maidenhead, pleaded guilty by post at Maidenhead magistrates court on Friday (April 25) to operating a private hire vehicle in a controlled district when the driver did not have a current private hire driver's licence, contrary to section 46(2) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

The court heard how the driver's car was approached in Westborough Road, Maidenhead, just after 9pm on Saturday September 1 2007.

The driver was unable to produce his private hire driver's badge to indicate that he was licensed by the council, and subsequently confirmed that his licence and badge had expired. Further investigations by licensing officers revealed that his licence had expired a year earlier, in September 2006.

At the time, the vehicle and the operator were both licensed. However Asif Iqbal utilised the services of an unlicensed driver which led to the council's prosecution.

Cllr Jesse Grey, chairman of the Windsor and Maidenhead licensing panel, said: "This is a very serious offence. The maximum fine of £1,000 was only reduced because the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

"It is vital that members of the public who use our taxis feel safe and confident that the vehicles they travel in are operating legally. The council's licensing officers work tirelessly to ensure that all taxi and private hire drivers are properly licensed – and cases such as this only serve to undermine the strict checking procedures we carry out to ensure that taxis and private vehicles comply with our strict licensing regime.

"This should be a warning to other operators that we will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who jeopardises the safety of our residents."

Asif Iqbal was also ordered to pay costs of £275.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead