A CABBIE who drove into an elderly woman and didn’t stop has failed his attempt to get back his licence.

Mohammad Ayub, from Crown and Greenline Private Hire in Colne, injured the woman in January and this week his appeal to regain his taxi licence was refused.

Pendle Council officials played video footage at an appeal hearing showing the collision.

A passer-by called the police after the woman was hit in Parliament Street, Colne, who suffered elbow and knee injuries.

The chairman of the bench said Ayub, of Carr Road, Nelson, had 'shown a shocking lack of care in his driving.'

Ayub, who also had nine penalty points for three speeding convictions and subject to two other complaints the council had received against him, was described as ‘not a fit and proper person’ by the chairman of the bench. Pendle Council was awarded £250 in court costs.

Riaz Ahmed, from Union Cabs in Colne, also lost his appeal to get his taxi operator’s licence back. Ahmed, of Park Avenue, Barrowford, had been allowing unlicensed drivers to drive his taxis. He had not kept proper records of bookings, his cars were poorly maintained and the council had received complaints about his taxi company.

The chairman of the magistrates noted that there had been 16 months of complaints and warnings in respect of record keeping, unlicensed drivers and mechanical faults and that the breaches were continuing.

The court awarded Pendle Council £500 in court costs from Ahmed, for his failed appeal.

Mr Ahmed has now begun an appeal to the crown court against the decision.

Cllr Paul White, leader of the council, said: “The court said that he was trusted with public safety and there had been no improvement in his business. These two unsuccessful appeals against our decisions show that we are right to take a tough line in tackling problems with taxi drivers and operators.

“Taxi safety in Pendle is very important to us.”

Neil Watson, Pendle Council’s manager for taxi licensing, said: “There are many taxi companies in Pendle which provide a good service. But this operator and driver do not deserve to get their licences back.”