Taxi and private hire drivers have been banned from waiting for Heathrow jobs in Hillingdon neighbourhoods surrounding the airport. Last night (Thursday, January 9), the council Cabinet voted for new measures to combat the antisocial behaviour, including drivers urinating and defecating outside people’s homes.
Residents of streets in Pinkwell, Heathrow Villages and West Drayton will no longer have to worry about the issue of Hackney Carriage and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers, including those associated with apps like Uber, loitering in their streets.
The new measures will see a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) enforced across these three neighbourhoods banning any taxi or PHV drivers from parking or waiting in the street. Instead, drivers are encouraged to use Heathrow Airport’s designated waiting zones at a cost of £1-£3 per hour, with toilet facilities.
The council held a public consultation between September 20, 2024, and November 1, 2024. Residents and taxi drivers alike were given the opportunity to contribute.
One concerned resident complained that drivers were ‘constantly dumping rubbish and leaving bottles of urination’, with another claiming ‘it’s hard to find parking, they overcrowd and litter our areas, they urinate in public view’.
Another alleged that drivers typically become aggressive. They said: “I have suffered for 12 years having taxi drivers park outside my house, I have been physically and racially assaulted when I have approached them asking them to leave.”
Wards affected by the proposals: Heathrow Villages, Pinkwell & West Drayton
(Image: Hillingdon Borough Council)
Some taxi drivers told the consultation that they felt they were being ‘unfairly targeted’, comparing the PSPO to ‘collective punishment’. One said: “I often have to wait in the area when a flight has been delayed. I have never indulged in any of the practices described. Why should a section of the community be punished for the behaviour of a few idiots? Isn’t collective punishment banned by The Hague Convention of 1899?”
Over a period of seven months, traffic wardens witnessed over 9,600 instances of PHVs and taxis violating local parking restrictions in these areas. More than 900 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) had been issued in the same period to some of these drivers, for offences including ‘vehicle idling, littering, urination, spitting etc’.
Councillor Eddie Lavery said: “We will be using this to target the registered owner of the vehicle, therefore if you drive off you will still be sent the notice. It is intended to enforce this using camera technology as the most effective way to collect this evidence and charging the relevant taxi drivers.”
Council Leader Cllr Ian Edwards went on to say: “It is the fact that some of these drivers use people’s gardens, hedges, and walls as toilets and it is unacceptable, which is why I’m delighted this has been brought forward.”
The areas most affected by these acts include Simpson Way, Blunts Avenue, Mondial Way, Longford Village and Harmondsworth Lane. The ban is expected to come into force on February 1, 2025.
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