Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Cabbies slammed for dropping litter
TAXI drivers who use a car park outside a city GP surgery have been told to clean up their act after being accused of treating the area as a dumping ground.
Residents on Balmerino Road say drivers chuck takeaway boxes and pasty wrappings on to the grass beside Douglas Medical Centre.
Retired cleaner Joyce Dickson, who lives across from the car park, says she has run out of patience with inconsiderate cabbies.
The 70-year-old said: “The taxis leave some amount of mess there.
“They throw out all of their mess and leave it when they’re cleaning their cars out, and it just gets blown all over the place.
“They have been doing this for a while. A woman from the council reported it a while ago and they sent someone out to clean it up – but that shouldn’t be his job.
“These drivers wouldn’t like this sort of mess on their own doorstep – it’s terrible. It’s just laziness.”
The Tele visited the car park on Balmerino Road last week and found unused taxi receipts, car bulb packaging and a parking ticket from Edinburgh Airport.
There were also wrappers from chocolate bars and pasties and dozens of discarded cigarette ends.
Another local, who did not give his name, said about five taxi drivers regularly congregate in the area where the rubbish was left.
“There’s a wee group of them who meet there – almost like a clique,” he said. “It’s always the same cars. I couldn’t say if they’re throwing out rubbish but they have been coming here for years.”
Chris Elder, local taxi rep for the trade union Unite, said he will notify taxi offices of the complaints from locals in an effort to stamp out the problem.
“The drivers should be putting their rubbish in the bin,” he said.
East End councillor Will Dawson said the littering was “not a good advert” for local drivers and firms.
“People live, work and play here and I really wonder how these inconsiderate drivers would react if people from this area decided to empty the contents of cars outside their homes,” he added.
“I will be asking licensing officers to speak to all companies and drivers to remind them of their responsibilities. However, this is a city-wide issue.
“We all need to take collective responsibility when dealing with our waste. If separated and put into the correct containers, then we will all have fewer issues with bins overflowing and litter on our streets.”