A Preston car wash became a night-time taxi checkpoint as Lancashire police and council licensing teams pulled licensed vehicles off the road for safety checks over the first weekend of October.
Blog Preston reported that passenger vehicles were diverted into Shiny Hands Car Wash on London Road, one of several high-visibility stops. The same operation also covered Chorley and Blackpool on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October, according to the Lancashire Evening Post and Lancashire Telegraph.
What the checks found
In total, 254 licensed taxis were inspected. Officers recorded 26 traffic offences — about one for every ten vehicles stopped — including illegal tyres and defective lights. Two passengers were searched under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Inspections covered mechanical and safety basics: tyres, brakes, lights and seatbelts. The force said the work was aimed at spotting unlicensed drivers as well as catching licensed cabs that were not up to standard.
Who took part
Lancashire Constabulary’s Roads Policing Unit worked with licensing officers from nine local authorities: Preston, Blackburn with Darwen, Pendle, South Ribble, Chorley, Sefton, Blackpool, Wolverhampton and Knowsley.
That mix matters for drivers. Out-of-area private hire working regularly brings Wolverhampton and other distant licences into Lancashire streets — so multi-council checkpoints are how host areas and home licensing teams try to close the gap on the night.
The stops sit under the force’s ongoing NightSafe campaign for the late-night economy. Similar joint taxi checks earlier in 2026 also focused on Preston and Chorley corridors, including a March operation that suspended vehicles for dangerous defects (Lancashire Constabulary).
What police said
Sergeant Ben Elliott of the Roads Policing Unit said the operations were about protecting the public and letting people travel safely after a night out. Most taxi drivers, he said, are professional and keep passengers safe. Targeted checks are there to find those who are not meeting standards, deal with offences and keep confidence in the trade — while supporting operators who do things properly.
For licensed drivers the message is familiar: night-time checkpoints will keep coming. Keep tyres, lights and paperwork tight, and expect to see council officers standing beside roads policing when the queues build outside the car washes and ranks.