Epping Forest District Council licensing and environmental enforcement officers checked taxis at the Central line stations in Epping, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill. The council announced the operation on 16 October. It has not said which night the checks were done.
The two teams are both the council’s. The release does not mention the police, British Transport Police or Transport for London.
Officers looked at drivers, vehicles and licences, and at whether anyone was touting. Darshan Sunger, Conservative, Chigwell with Lambourne, whom the council calls its cabinet member for licensing, said the point was to keep residents and visitors safe and to stop touting. He thanked the officers for working outside their usual hours.
What was not said
The council has not said how many cars were stopped, how many were hackneys and how many were private hire, or whether any driver was from another licensing area. It has not said that anyone was warned, reported, suspended or prosecuted. It has not named a driver.
Touting
A hackney carriage can wait on a rank and take a hail. A private hire car has to be booked before the passenger gets in.
Section 167 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 makes it an offence to solicit people in a public place to hire a vehicle to carry them. A station forecourt is a public place. The offence is not limited to people with no licence. A licensed private hire driver who walks up to passengers and offers a trip is touting. A sign on a vehicle saying it is for hire is not, by itself, the offence.
The maximum penalty is a fine at level 4, which is £2,500. The council has not said that anyone from this operation has been charged.