CCTV scheme to protect taxi staff on agenda

Sheffield Council’s licencing board will discuss the measure at a meeting next Tuesday after officers said the city had seen a number of recent incidents.

In a report to the committee, the city’s chief licencing officer Steven Lonnia says the most recent attack left a driver blind in one eye.

It is thought that making CCTV cameras in taxis compulsory would not be popular with drivers because of the costs involved.

Estimates provided by the council suggest the average bill for installing the technology could be around £500 per vehicle.

Currently 128 of Sheffield’s 2,224 taxis have cameras on board.