Hucknall taxi firm boss blasts 20-week wait for Ashfield Council to issue licence plates

Danny Mellors, who runs Ideal Cars on Beardall Street, says Ashfield Council’s testing station at Sutton is no longer fit for purpose if it is leaving drivers waiting up to five months for their plate.

And he says the length of waiting time is now pushing other drivers to other get licences from other councils and licensing authorities where the waits are much shorter.

Danny gave Nottingham City, Gedling and Broxtowe councils as examples where drivers are waiting just seven days.

And he says Ashfield drivers are being unfairly condemned to being constanly forced to rent cars – so having the extra costs of that – rather than being able to buy their own because of the long waits to get a plate from Ashfield Council.

He said: "The simple issue is the Ashfield testing depot at Sutton is no longer fit for purpose for firms like ours.

“We first notified the council last September that the waiting times for plating appointments was too long.

"At that time it was ‘only’ eight weeks but that was too long and now it’s 20 weeks – that’s five months.

"We said then and we’re saying now that this simply isn’t good enough and isn’t fair to drivers who rent cars, but wish to buy their own.

"We had a driver, who wanted to buy and plate 10 wheelchair-accesible vehicles and start his own company, working solely in partnership with Ideal Cars.

“He was had £110,000 with which he would buy the cars and then we would put our drivers in them.

"But the current situation with Ashfield means he would be investing £110,000 and then be waiting five months before he could even get them plated.

"Who would invest that amount of money and not get a return for five months?

“Ideal Cars, as a company, has been loyal to Ashfield snce we started in 2015 and we and have only ever held an Ashfield operator’s license.

"But now we hold a Wolverhampton operator’s licence as well and we’re looking at a Nottingham City licence because the wait times are so much shorter.”

Your Dispatch has contacted the council for comment.