THE OWNER of a private hire taxi firm which provides school runs in North Yorkshire, fears proposed changes to a council’s licensing regulations will put him out of business.

Hambleton District Council is proposing to amend its Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy to restrict the age of licensed vehicles operating in the district to a maximum of ten years, with the exception of wheelchair accessible vehicles.

But Tim Ritson, who runs Carlton Cars (North Yorkshire) Ltd in Carlton-in-Cleveland near Stokesley, says if the new stipulation is accepted his 11-car fleet will all be off the road and his business will be unviable.

He employs 11 drivers, including his wife and himself, and two passenger assistants who travel with passengers with special needs. He said if approved, this amendment could put them all out of a job.

Mr Ritson says he is the largest private hire operator in Hambleton and for the past 15 years has been providing a private hire vehicle to North Yorkshire County Council, providing school runs, transporting residents with special needs and providing transport on behalf of social services.

He says his cars undergo rigorous checks by mechanics every three months.

“My vehicles are all an average of 12 to 13 years old,” he said.

“I can keep my cost of the service low because I’m not spending money on new vehicles all the time.

“My cars basically have the equivalent of four MOTs a year; North Yorkshire County Council carries out a check every three months and then there’s the MOT and taxi test; these tests are all carried out by qualified mechanics.

“Why should they be any more unsafe or dangerous than a new car?”

Hambleton District Council says it has drafted a revised policy to raise standards of public and private hire services in Hambleton.

Paul Staines, head of environment services, said if the age requirement was brought in, it would not be implemented on licence applications before January 2017.

“One of the proposed amendments is to introduce an age policy to generally restrict the age of licensed vehicles to a maximum of 10 years, although wheelchair accessible vehicles will not be subject to any such restriction," he said.

"If implemented, this would still represent one of the most relaxed age policies in the area.”

He added: “In December 2015, all 157 members of the hackney carriage and private hire trade were invited to make comments on the proposed policy revisions. The council received a total of four responses and these will be considered at a meeting of the licensing committee on 11th February 2016.

“Even if the revised policy is implemented, the council will still be required to consider each application on its own individual merits.”