Taxi drivers face illegal immigration checks
EVERY taxi driver in Gosport who does not hold a European passport is to be checked to make sure they are not an illegal immigrant.
The crackdown comes after council leaders admitted a Bangladeshi driver had been carrying passengers in the borough for four years despite having no legal right to work in Britain.
He has now been deported after his illegal status was discovered.
The council is now working with the UK Border Agency to check the immigration status of every worker who holds or applies for a taxi driving licence.
Previously it had carried out only its own 'fit and proper persons' test and left the immigration checks to employers.
The checks will be applied to all non-EU passport holders and are part of new national standards being brought in across the country.
David Jago, the council's environmental services manager said: 'Our policy was the same as the rest of the country.
'And now we are checking all of our taxi-driving non-English nationals with the UK Border Agency.
'I am more than confident that we won't have any within the space of a couple of months.'
The council said it had not previously been advised to do the checks by the UK Border Agency.
Mark Hook, leader of Gosport Borough Council, added: 'The local authority only checked the licensing application - our role was to see if they were a fit and proper person.
'But now it's the role of the council to check if they are an illegal immigrant or not. We have to do more stringent tests and checks.
'It's right that we try and clamp down where we can.'
Dave Elsey, who runs Gosport-based firm Dave's taxis, said he had been shocked to discover the driver had not been checked.
'I think it's absolutely disgusting,' he said.
'It's not only our safety, it's our families' safety, and the members of the public. We don't know what his background is.
'We all do find it a bit of a shock.'
Portsmouth City Council and Fareham Borough Council said they had already been working with the UK Border Agency for several months to ensure drivers were in the country legally. Havant Borough Council said it had been operating the scheme for two years.
All councils now receive advice from the agency to ensure drivers are legally allowed to work.
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