A TAXI driver has been told to park his Scottish-themed service – because his Saltire car doesn’t meet the council standard.
Rob Jamieson put white crosses on his blue Renault to help target the lucrative tourist market in the Trossachs.
The kilted cabbie launched his Saltire Taxis & Tours service earlier this summer after relocating from Kent with wife Sharon.
The pair decided to “come home” to Jamieson’s place of birth after redundancy prompted them to re-evaluate where they wanted to be and what they wanted to do.
He bought the blue vehicle with the Saltire plan in mind and says he called both the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Stirling Council to get the green light before spending almost £1000 on the roof-and-bonnet decals, which were fitted by a company in East Kilbride.
But two months after hitting the road with his private hire service, the council has told Jamieson to scrap the Saltires.
Officials say the decoration breaches regulations and that they have no recollection of his earlier calls.
Jamieson, whose service promises customers “no fuss or drama”, is now blue in the face over the ruling.
He told The National: “Everybody thinks it’s lovely and tourists love it. It doesn’t matter where I go, people flash their lights, blow their horns, give me the thumbs-up. When I pick people up at pubs or the airport, they can see me straight away – you can’t miss the car.
“I was thinking about expanding more into tours and operating more cars with this as the branding, now I’m not sure if I can do that.
“At the end of the day, it’s only white stripes on the car.”
Conditions relating to the condition, maintenance and appearance of private hire vehicles are specified by local licensing authorities.
In Glasgow, passengers can be picked up in a blue “black hack” bearing white crosses on all sides.
But Jamieson’s private hire vehicle is classified differently and permission to operate comes from a separate local authority.
Stirling Council officials said they did not remember his calls asking if the branding was allowed
An official from Stirling Council told him in an email: “We noted that there is a Saltire on the bonnet and roof of your vehicle this is not allowed on Stirling Council taxis and we would expect you to have this removed ASAP and provide proof of this please.”
Jamieson told The National that when he queried the request, the department said it had no memory of either of his two previous calls seeking advice on the decals decision.
The National contacted three councillors on the SNP-Labour-led local authority. One declined to comment and no response was received from the other two.
However, explaining the order to remove the crosses, Stirling Council said it is working to ensure a “positive” end to the matter.
A spokesperson told The National: “Following a decision of the council’s Regulatory Functions Panel in 2011, private hire vehicles can only display a maximum of one sign on each of the two front doors, with strict limits on size and what information is displayed.
“Information is restricted to company name and/or company logo.
“Mr Jamieson’s signage does not meet this criteria and we have informed him of this. We will continue to engage with him to seek a positive resolution to this matter.”
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