Tewkesbury Borough Council has successfully prosecuted two individuals for offences relating to licensing of private hire vehicles.

On Monday, 13 November, Victor Whitham, of Beaumont Drive, Cheltenham, Director of Spa-Tax Taxis, pleaded guilty to operating a private hire vehicle that was not licensed and for using an operator who did not have a private hire driver’s licence.

Mr Whitham was fined £500 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £200. He was also ordered to pay £350 costs to the council.

On the same day, Hassan Isakhail, of Devon Avenue, Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to being the driver of the unlicensed vehicle, operating as a private hire driver without a licence, and driving without a valid policy of insurance.

Mr Isakhail was fined £733, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £293 and given eight penalty points. He was also ordered to pay £250 costs to the council.

Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment, Councillor Sarah Hands, said

“In the interests of public safety, it is vital that all private hire vehicles and drivers are licensed.

“Our licensing team carries out checks to ensure that all licence holders are safe and suitable to conduct private hire work – and without these checks public safety would be jeopardised.”

The prosecution was brought following a complaint from a member of the public. Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Licensing team worked on the prosecution with assistance from both the council’s Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit and One Legal, a legal service shared by Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucester City Council, Stroud District Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council.