Scarborough Taxi Driver's Moonshot

Tuesday, 26 November 2024 06:00

By Joe Willis, Local Democracy Reporter

The owner of an 11-year-old taxi that has driven almost the distance to the moon is asking for dispensation to keep the vehicle in use.

Scarborough cab driver David Harrison’s Ford Mondeo TDCI 2.0 litre diesel car has already done 225,000 miles – just 14,000 short of the distance between the earth and the moon.

The vehicle is more than 10-years-old, meaning the taxi driver must ask North Yorkshire Council for dispensation to renew its hackney carriage vehicle licence.

The application will be heard on Tuesday (NOV 26) by the council’s general licensing and registration sub-committee.

In his application, Mr Harrison states that he prides himself in keeping the vehicle in “perfect working order”.

He added:

“It has never failed an MOT or compliance test.

“It is regularly serviced and well maintained, and I regularly get comments from customers on how clean and comfortable it is.”

New rules mean all new applications for hackney carriage vehicles in North Yorkshire will need to be wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV) or zero-emission vehicles (ZEV).

Mr Harrison told the authority he wanted to continue using the Mondeo while he saves up to buy a new WAV vehicle.

A report to councillors stated that the Mondeo passed it most recent MOT in September without any advisories.

“As the vehicle is over ten years of age it does not comply with the vehicle age criteria outlined within the Policy which requires vehicles to be less than ten years old from the date of first registration.

“The policy with regards to vehicle specification shall be applied in the majority of cases when considering licensing applications, but the licensing authority will consider each application on its individual merits and may, at times, allow exceptions to this policy.”

Where exceptions are made, the council specifies that vehicles are subject to three mechanical inspections each year.

Councillors have been recommended to inspect the vehicle themselves before making a decision.

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