CCTV in all taxis to boost safety

TAXI owners could be forced to install CCTV cameras in their vehicles to combat sex attacks.

The move will be considered under reforms that will see new laws enforcing minimum standards for all taxi and private-hire drivers. This follows a series of scandals involving drivers who preyed on vulnerable passengers.

The Department for Transport may also prevent drivers working outside areas where they hold a licence, and will make criminal record checks tougher.

A review found some of the sexual predators responsible for grooming in Rotherham and Rochdale worked as drivers.

Taxis minister Nusrat Ghani said the ‘vast majority’ of drivers are safe, but ‘we have seen too many cases where taxi and minicab drivers have used their job to prey on vulnerable people’.