Bolton Council's Licensing and Environmental Regulation Committee revoked a private hire driver's licence with immediate effect on Tuesday 27 October 2026. The driver is not named. The hearing was in private at Bolton Town Hall, and the press and public were excluded.
The case, LER/31/26, is set out in the minutes of the Licensing and Environmental Regulation Committee. Those minutes record 83 complaints. The Director of Place submitted the report. The Bolton News names the director as Jon Dyson. The driver attended. The parties agreed a maximum of 15 minutes for each presentation. The licensing team set out the case, and the licence holder presented his case.
The complaints
Some of the complaints were treated as serious. Some were of a sexual nature or related to safety, which the committee found particularly concerning. Numerous complaints from customers concerned cancellations and payments.
The minutes list sexual comments and behaviour, demands for cash and extra payments, journeys that were prolonged or extended, refusals of passengers because of luggage or belongings, and verbal disagreements. They also list cancellations without an appropriate reason, which affected passenger safety and customer care, complaints that bookings had been completed outside the requirements of a private hire operator's licence, and allegations of aggression, threats of violence and smoking in the licensed vehicle.
Why the licence was revoked
The committee considered the Department for Transport statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards in the report. Members did not feel they would be comfortable putting a loved one in a vehicle with the licence holder, and they did not consider him a fit and proper person at this time.
"The licence holder had no understanding of the seriousness of this or the risk that his actions were presenting to members of the public.
"The licence holder held no remorse and failed to take any responsibility for his actions.
"Private hire operators had removed the licence holder from their platforms due to the seriousness of the complaints."
The report contradicted his account of two airport bookings. The driver states that the passengers did not show. The passengers claim the journeys took place outside the booking application. The committee had a screenshot from the booking acceptance screen, the snail trails for the two bookings, the subsequent bookings, and his location afterwards.
The nature and quantity of the complaints meant that revocation with immediate effect was necessary for public safety. The licence had already been revoked with immediate effect in March 2026. On the information presented, the committee decided it would be inappropriate and unsafe to allow him to return to driving.
Councillor Toby Hewitt, of Astley Bridge, moved the revocation in the interest of public safety. Councillor Andrea Finney, of Horwich North, seconded it. All nine members present voted for the motion. Nobody voted against. The meeting ran from 2pm to 5.05pm.