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Taxi drivers staged a demonstration outside City Hall in Victoria today in protest at "rip off" parking charges they claim is costing them up to £3 just to use the toilet.

The drivers said they had to pay the minimum of £3 to park and dash to the loo or risk a fine of £80, complaining that there are not enough taxi-only bays.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union called on Westminster City Council to waive parking fees for 10 minutes for black cabs on bays close to public toilets. They said: Westminster recently introduced a new mobile phone/credit card based parking system, ripping out the old pay as you go meters. At the same time a number of public conveniences close to black cab ranks have been closed down by Westminster City Council.

As a result, taxi drivers are being forced to pay the minimum parking charge of £3 an hour just to dash in and use the public toilet or risk a fine of £80. Westminster have introduced a limited number of taxi-only bays at £1 an hour but these are inadequate and drivers have pointed out that they are a great earner for the Council as they only need to stop for a few minutes and Westminster gets a pound every time.

RMT are calling on Westminster City Council to waive parking fees for ten minutes for black cabs on bays close to public toilets to enable the cabbies to take a leak without getting ripped off or risking a fine.

“Black taxis drivers provide an essential service for Londoners and Westminster should play fair and cut our members some slack with the parking enforcement to enable them to park up and do the necessary,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“Westminster is right at the hub of London and the last thing that anyone wants is to drive the black cabs away and open up another opportunity for the illegal and dangerous taxi touts. This is an issue that can be easily resolved and we expect Westminster City Council to take our members protest seriously and reach an agreement with us,” Bob Crow said.

Danny Chalkley, Westminster's cabinet member for city management, said: "This particular group does not have the backing of the three main bodies which represent the taxi trade, including the London Taxi Drivers Association, and has not made contact with the council to raise its concerns.

"If they had they would realise that Westminster does more than any other borough to help the taxi trade and that we are currently working on the creation of the first ever designated rest ranks in the capital, where taxi drivers will be able to park for free.

"Local businesses and motorists, and no doubt taxi drivers themselves, really could do without the chaos this threatened protest will cause, especially if taxi drivers allow it to be hijacked by other groups for their own purposes.

"If this group has a genuine grievance they can raise it in the usual way rather than resorting to tactics which just inconvenience innocent members of the public."

Source: BBC