"Some cause for concern" says council as it investigates Bedford taxi 'incident'

An incident involving a taxi last month was “not quite as portrayed” on social media posts, a meeting heard.

But there are still causes for concern, a council officer added.

During yesterday’s General Licensing Committee (Thursday, February 1) councillor Leigh Coombs (Lib Dems, Shortstown) asked for an update on an incident widely reported on social media in January.

“And picked up by the local press, where it was alleged that a person was kept inside the taxi. I just wanted to ask whether or not the council had been made aware of that, and is that being dealt with by the council?” he asked.

Lee Phanco, chief officer for assessment, application and business support, said: “I can confirm that the licensing team were made aware of that on the day that the story appeared on social media. It is being investigated, we have been in touch with all parties involved and that process is ongoing.

“Obviously I can’t go into detail in a public meeting, what I would say is actually having gone through some of the investigation that the circumstances are not quite as were portrayed. Certainly there is still some cause for concern but the original post on social media would give us very significant cause for concern.

“All I can say at the moment is that those concerns are less than they originally were.”