Queues at taxi ranks to be policed by security guards

Liverpool council is spending £80,000 over the next two years on security staff to police taxi ranks.

The security personnel are being installed on city centre taxi ranks to curb night-time rowdiness. They will keep order in the ranks and enforce a queuing system for passengers. Taxi drivers have welcomed the news, which comes after a pilot scheme last year.

City leaders say they are needed after a boom in the number of revellers hitting Liverpool’s streets after dark. Licensed security staff and police will be on the streets every Friday and Saturday night, and Sunday nights before Bank Holiday Mondays, from 11pm to 4am. Another team will roam the city patrolling other ranks. They are likely to go to either Bold Street – the busiest stand in the city – or North John Street, which has been highlighted as Liverpool’s most violent pick up point.

They will be backed up by a dedicated Police Community Support Officer. The bouncers and back-up will cost up to £80,000 a year and the city is committing to it for two years.

Read the rest of this item from The Liverpool Echo here