Police issue strict conditions and reduced times for private hire protest in Leeds on Monday morning

The private hire protests in Leeds in 2017

Police have warned private hire drivers that they must not start their protest until 10am on Monday in Leeds city centre - and must drive in single file - due to the disruption the demonstration would cause.

Private hire drivers announced today that they plan to protest from 6am on Monday (January 8) from 6am to midday.

But West Yorkshire Police and Leeds Council have this afternoon announced a set of 'conditions' which the protesters must meet.

The drivers will not be allowed to begin gathering until 9.30am at the earliest, and the procession cannot start until 10am. The procession must be single file, and must not involve more than 100 vehicles.

The conditions are aimed at reducing what Leeds Council says is 'unnecessary' disruption during the Monday morning rush hour.

UPDATE: Following the conditions being issued, the protest has now been cancelled.

A spokesman for the council said: "Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Police have been notified of a planned "go slow" protest by some private hire drivers in Leeds on Monday 8 January between the hours of 6 am and 12 noon.

"However conditions have been put in place by West Yorkshire Police to restrict the time and scale of the protest to help reduce the disruption to motorists and public transport although some disruption to traffic in parts of the city centre may still occur.

"The conditions restrict the hours of the protest to 10 am and 12 noon to avoid the busy morning rush-hour, limits the number of cars allowed to take part to 100 and requires the drivers taking part to drive in single file so as not to block the carriageway."

Councillor James Lewis, deputy leader said: “This is the third protest by the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation in the space of a month, causing unnecessary disruption to motorists and public transport across the city centre. We are very disappointed that they have decided to go ahead with further disruptive action, despite talks being ongoing between ourselves and their representatives and a number concessions already agreed.

“Officers and senior Councillors have spent a significant amount of time meeting with this organisation over the past two months, trying to address their concerns in a way which does not have a detrimental impact on public safety and other road users. We felt that discussions had been productive and conciliatory, and there are still some meetings in the pipeline. Therefore we feel that further action at this stage is unnecessary and unhelpful.

“The licensing committee has also agreed to take a proposal its meeting on Tuesday so the policy about livery on private hire vehicles can be reviewed and consulted upon as soon as possible.

“We have very real concerns about the impact on public safety as well as the safety of the drivers themselves that this further protest may bring, as I’m sure members of the public are already finding the regular disruption very frustrating.”

THE POLICE CONDITIONS IN FULL

West Yorkshire Police have issued a S12 notice under Public Order Act 1986 with the following conditions imposed on the protest:

1. Muster – Protestors will muster at Leeds and Bradford Road, Leeds from 0930 hours (9:30am).