A COUPLE who ran a taxi firm in Dawlish have been named by Teignbridge Council after having been stripped of their licences.

Michael Miller and Grace Miller, who jointly operated the cab firm Grab A Cab, had their licences, one as the proprietor and of a Hackney Carriage driver, removed after a series of complaints.

As reported in the Mid Devon Advertiser and Dawlish Gazette in September, Teignbridge Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee revoked the vehicle licences of the proprietor and the licence of a Hackney Carriage driver for no longer complying with the ‘fit and proper’ criteria.

The couple accumulated a high number of low level and more serious complaints by the public, customers, police officers, and the taxi industry.

After numerous issues, fines, complaints, and prosecutions, the committee agreed the couple had shown a clear and blatant disregard to rules, laws, and regulations along with the council’s policies, and enforcement action was taken.

A spokesman for Teignbridge Council said: ‘All complaints to the licensing authority are taken seriously and enforcement action is carried out when necessary.’

In September, we reported that the two unnamed drivers had been stripped of their licences following allegations of aggressive and abusive behaviour, threats and intimidation.

The decision was upheld by committee at an appeal hearing.

Committee members heard then that complaints had first been received in 2020.

The licensing authority’s report said: ‘The licence holder has repeatedly shown disregard for the rules displaying a serious lack of judgement.

‘The sub-committee were also very concerned with the number of allegations of aggressive and abusive behaviour received and the length of time over which these had occurred.

‘All behaviours evidenced in the report fell well below that expected of someone responsible for upholding the safety of the general public.’

Complaints also related to verbal and physical threats and intimidation.