HUNDREDS of minicab drivers have met to demand equal rights with black cab drivers to stop on red routes.

Licensed minicab drivers say it is becoming impossible to deliver the traditional door-to-door service that passengers expect because, unlike black cab drivers, they are fined for stopping on red routes to pick up and drop off their customers.

Brian Curtis,68, who has a lung condition and must travel everywhere with an oxygen cylinder, is one of the many who rely on mini-cabs.

He said: "Where I live there is a restriction which means the cabs are not supposed to wait. But if they didn't wait I would be a prisoner in my own home.

"I am not just thinking of myself. There are many people in the same situation."
Campaign co-ordinator and former minicab driver David Beck, of Streatham Hill, organised a meeting of more than 400 drivers in central London on Tuesday calling for a change in the law.
Among the politicians at the meeting was North Southwark and Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes.
Mr Beck, who runs minicab firm Page Transport, said: "A lot of our passengers are vulnerable or old and we are in a situation where the driver is in a dilemma.
"He either he has to think of himself and drop his passenger off a long way from their house,or think of his passenger and risk a fine.
"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred he will think of the passenger and risk the £100 fine."
He said licensed minicabs were part of the London transport system and, like buses, black cabs and trains, should be given rights in law to reflect that.
Ola Oshundahunsi, 46, who has been a minicab driver in South London for 10 years,is backing the campaign.
He has already had one fine this week.
But he is expecting another to fall through the door soon because he picked up an 87-year-old partially blind woman and had to drop her outside her house on a red route in Streatham.
He said: "There is no argument you can give in that situation that would be justified.
"At night you pick ladies up who are vulnerable - that is why they are taking a cab. You can't drop them off five minutes from their door. I will probably get a fine for that but what can I do?"
A TfL spokesman said: "Transport for London recognises the invaluable service provided by London's private hire trade,which provides a reliable and flexible travel option throughout the capital.
"TfL is currently exploring how to allow private hire vehicles to pick up and set down passengers on red routes, in a way that does not interfere with the effective operation of those routes.
"We are working with representatives from the industry to bring about these changes which will see a further improvement in public transport in London."
 
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