Westminster's New Signage Doing The Job?...by Thomas the Taxi

I know its early days yet as the signs have only been in place for five days. But I have been keeping an eye on the traffic found parked outside the Bar/Restaurant Tiger Tiger.

The usual suspects have been parking on the opposite side of this major road or tucked away in Jermyn Street. So far this week we have seen very few PHV's parked outside touting. Touting is still going on but on a much smaller scale, as the cars that work from this satellite office take up most of the available space opposite. These vehicles though, are still unlawfully parked.

One thing we have noticed, is the wardens seem to be turning a blind eye to the scabs parked opposite on the double yellow lines and on the loading bay.

If you see PHV's parked illegally phone Westminster Parking services on; 02078 234567 and select option 5.

Make sure you have at least one registration number and know your own mobile number as these are asked for in a bid to put you off. All calls are logged and recorded and the more complaints we make the stronger our case against the parking services.

What is needed now is for licensed taxi drivers to service this rank. There is a constant stream of work which goes on all through the late evening and early morning.

Perhaps these signs can help in other locations around the West End where touts are operating on a huge scale. On Anon still has a line of up to a dozen cars ranking up outside most nights. Heddon Street is another mass touting hotspot where customers have to run the gauntlet of touts to reach Regent street only to be confronted by a second wave barrage of "Taxi Miss, Taxi sir".

I have never understood why, there seems to be no complaints coming from Bus drivers, about the congestion causing parked PHV's. The first northbound section of Regent Street is a nightmare because of bus congestion every night. PHV's double parked outside the Cocoon restaurant heralding the lines of vehicles parked on the corner Swallow Street. How/why has this been allowed to continue unabated.

Perhaps it would be a good experiment to place similar signs outside these four Touting hot spots; On Anon, Cocoon, Swallow Street, and Heddon Street. But of course, they would have to be enforced by Westminster's bank of new CCTV cameras, or the experiment would fall flat.

The ordinary licensed taxi drivers have made a fantastic fight back in central London and the touts are running out of places to tout from. We have to keep up this pressure and move forward. This work has been a fantastic testament to the character of the hard-working London Taxi driver who has been deserted by the leading trade groups which purport to represent their interests.

Feeling alone with their work decimated they have formed groups fighting rearguard actions with the help of new technology such as the internet and smart phones.

Don't be a fence sitter, Join the fight back today. Log on to the LTDF and join the Twitter action group.

Its our work, lets take it back together.