Taxi queue wardens in town to help safety drive

Dec 11 2007 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

TAXI queue wardens and weapon detectors are operating in Liverpool city centre as part of on-going initiatives to encourage more night-time visitors.

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce’s plans aim to promote a safe atmosphere in the city centre during the evening, with the measures introduced in areas which have been hotspots for crime or trouble.

The scheme was launched in Ha Ha Canteen on Albert Dock, with the chamber announcing it was also encouraging bar staff to take British Institute of Innkeeping exams to increase their awareness of underage drinkers and other problems they may encounter.

Taxis are also being fitted with modern CCTV equipment, which will record to a hard disk instead of a tape, to provide better quality evidence of incidents. Taxi wardens, who will watch queues in the city to stop fights breaking out, have also been drafted in.

Chamber bosses say the scheme will reduce crime and attract more evening visitors to Liverpool as the final countdown to the city’s reign of European Capital of Culture 2008 continues.

Stuart McBride, from Ormskirk security company Impact, which is providing the service, said: “Taxi queues are often the places where trouble starts. It is the end of the night, people have been drinking and just want to get home.

“But often people will jump the queue and it can be a place where individuals can feel vulnerable.

“To start with, our wardens will be taking lists of people joining the queue so everybody stays in line and will also defuse any problems which might arise.

“I think when people see someone is in charge, they will be reassured.”

The wardens will be at three taxi ranks within the city, including queues on Berry Street and by the Adelphi Hotel.

They will work in partnership with the police, who they can contact via radio if a situation escalates.

As part of the Chamber’s scheme, door staff will also be given metal detectors to prevent weapons entering licensed premises and pubs and clubs encouraged to fit polycarbonate glass.

Tougher than normal glass, the substance is harder to smash and will prevent injuries from smashed windows.

Peter Jones, manager of the Chamber’s Business Crime Direct Team said: “Crime at night in the city is already going down but we need to reduce it further and I believe these steps will do that.

“Next year, the city will be full of visitors and this means we need to manage Liverpool even better than we do now.”

lizawilliams