Driving the extra mile

SIR – London is indeed fortunate to have black cabs (Letters, May 16).

Several years ago my daughter fell asleep on a London Underground train after a night out with friends. She woke up to find herself at the end of the line and her bag missing. It was winter and close to midnight when she used her mobile to call me. She was panicking.

Salvation appeared when she saw a black cab. I asked the cabbie to trust me to meet him at Euston station.

I drove to the station and found her, but the cab had gone. Apparently he had made her promise to tell me he had daughters himself.

When I need a taxi it is always a black cab, and I tip generously.

Gavin Charlton Brown

London NW3

SIR – The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans regularly carries veterans of all ages on both short and long journeys. Most recently a group including two 103-year-olds were taken to Wageningen to join the Dutch celebration of Liberation Day.

Three years ago I myself travelled in the back of a London taxi from London to Berlin in a day. I was only slightly crumpled at the end.

Frances Luczyc Wyhowska Vice-president, Taxi Charity for Military Veterans

London N3