Watford's Mayor has furiously hit back at Claire Ward after the town's MP waded into the ongoing taxi row.
Dorothy Thornhill has accused the MP of “not understanding the issue” after she backed the cabbies in their dispute with Watford Borough Council.
The row comes after hundreds of Hackney Carriage Drivers marched through the streets of Watford last week to protest against the council's “heavy-handed” approach to deregulating the taxi trade.
Local council's were encouraged by the Government to delimit the taxi trade to stop the unlawful trade of taxi plates and to get more cabs onto the streets.
However, after meeting with Hackney Carriage Drivers this week, Ms Ward condemned town councillors for the "haphazard way they have implemented local policies for the past five years”.
Ms Ward said: "It's been a real free-for-all resulting in a series of disputes involving Hackney cabs and private hire companies which have alienated not only the drivers themselves but also the travelling public.
“This constant warfare is giving Watford a very bad image and it cannot be allowed to continue"
The MP went on: "It's time the Mayor and her fellow councillors sorted these problems out once and for all.”
However, Mayor Dorothy Thornhill has hit back, accusing the Labour MP of simply listening to one side of the argument.
The Mayor said: “I am happy for the town's MP to comment on Watford issues when she understands them.
“She has heard only one side of the story and it has clearly given her a platform to have a go at the council.
“If she did come and talk to us and talk to the chair of the licensing committee we will show her everything has been done properly.”
The latest row is over the council's approach to private taxi firms being licensed by Three Rivers District Council but working in Watford.
Town Hall officers believe this to be unlawful.
The Mayor says rather than immediately attempting to prosecute Three Rivers District Council and the private hire companies, however, the council has offered those drivers the chance to transfer their registration to Watford.
They will be allowed to do so for £19.50, but will then have to pay the full fee once their current licence runs out.
Mayor Thornhill says, because of the system the council operates, an “unintentional” consequence of that will be they also get a separate Hackney Carriage licence.
The Hackney drivers says the council has already “opened the floodgates” to more drivers starting work in Watford, and the extra drivers will put their livelihoods at risk.
However, the mayor said: “The taxi drivers do not like de-regularisation – they want a monopoly and a honey pot.
“If these private drivers wanted to be Hackney Carriage Drivers then they would have applied for a Hackney Carriage Licence.
“I think their fears are unfounded.”
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