Concerns have been raised that young women aren’t able to get taxi rides home after nights out in Hereford, because drivers will only take cash.

Mani Mistry, who has driven a taxi in Hereford for over 20 years, said: “Drivers are refusing card and app-based payments from young women, even when they are begging.

“It’s a public safety issue that needs to be addressed.”

Hereford Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Association chairman John Jones agreed it is a problem in the city, “especially with younger people”.

“Often drivers use it as an excuse to refuse shorter fares – which genuine companies then get inundated with,” he added.

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According to a Herefordshire Council spokesperson: “The council’s licensing team are aware of recent reports of this nature, and of the consequences of refusing short fares on vulnerable people. Therefore we will be considering how the taxi policy could be amended so that this issue can be better regulated.

“In the meantime the licensing authority will be increasing night-time enforcement work and has already written to the entire taxi trade to notify them of this.”

Mr Jones said he would welcome such a change in drivers’ licensing requirements.

But he remains unhappy with the way the council is attempting to change more widely how taxis are registered in the county.

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He said this “is a simple fix which should have taken six months but has been dragging on for four years” – for which he blames “officers’ incompetence”.

This and other concerns about transport have prompted him to stand for the Conservatives in the Newton Farm county ward at next week’s local elections.

“There is an acute shortage of taxis in Hereford, partly because drivers don’t want to come out at peak times – they just get stuck in traffic,” he said.

He added he would favour bypasses on both sides of the city to improve its longer-term resilience, so “young people to feel able to stay in Herefordshire”.

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