Fourteen months ago, Dundee City Council demanded £30 from every one of Dundee’s 1,300 taxi drivers to bankroll a marshal scheme.
It has emerged, however, that not a single member of staff has ever been hired, with the estimated £40,000 collected languishing in a bank account ever since.
Taxi drivers have now hit out at council chiefs and criticised them for taking the cash before they knew the plan would work, demanding that the money be refunded.
The council has been desperately trying to hire the right calibre of staff to run the taxi marshal initiative, targeting ex-police officers with the skills required to keep people safe on the city’s streets.
Licensing committee convener Stewart Hunter told The Courier he had real hopes for the scheme and admitted he was hugely disappointed at how things have worked out.
On paper, the introduction of taxi marshals to key city centre locations at weekends looked to be a sound idea.
It was hoped they could protect worse-for-wear drinkers who risk their lives on a weekly basis by crossing roads in the face of traffic with the area outside the casino on the city’s Marketgait particularly worrisome.
They could also have helped to quell trouble at certain taxi ranks, giving drivers the confidence to stop for passengers in areas some have been avoiding.
Taxi driver Gregor Ross, 47, from Carnoustie, however, said he was angry that the council had demanded payment up front for a scheme it has been unable to deliver.
“Every tax driver in Dundee had to pay £30 to cover the cost of the introduction of taxi marshals which must mean that they took around £40,000 of revenue out of the taxi trade,” he said.
“Fourteen months later the scheme has completely failed to materialise and our money is still sitting in a council bank account and there are a number of drivers who are extremely angry about this.”
Mr Hunter said he would be meeting members of the taxi trade to discuss the way forward.
“It is extremely unfortunate and disappointing that we have not been able to deliver the taxi marshals we need,” he added.
“I think this was an excellent idea as there are safety issues in the city centre at weekends and we believe they could make a big difference, but unfortunately we’ve just struggled to attract people with the right credentials and the appropriate experience to take on these roles.
“We will make one last attempt to make it happen, but if we cannot deliver the marshals then we will have to look at refunds.”