Police have cracked down on taxi drivers who do not comply with the law.

Officers from the Tri-Force Roads Policing Unit (RPU) teamed up with Safer Neighbourhood Officers and officers from the Special Constabulary to conduct checks on private hire vehicles in Hitchin on Friday, July 11.

Between 5pm and 11pm, 38 taxis were checked with one Traffic Offence Report being issued for a seatbelt fault and ten verbal warnings were given for matters relating to sidelights, exhausts and windscreens.

Four verbal warnings were given because identity badges were not worn by drivers. The checks were conducted at the Queen Mother Theatre car park.

The aim of the campaign, named Operation Vector, is to make sure that taxis and taxi drivers comply with the law and the terms of their licences so that the public can be confident that the licensed private hire vehicles and Hackney carriages are safe and legal.

In most of the operations the taxis are checked for faults or defects, while background checks on the drivers are also carried out.

The RPU’s PC Nick Jenkins, who led this particular operation, said: “Most of the vehicles were found to be in order with only a number of relatively minor offences discovered.

“The message is going out to taxi drivers across the county that if they do not comply with the law, they will be found out and may be liable for a fine as well as repair bill to bring their vehicle back up to the required standards.”

He added: “I’d like to thank the specials who were involved in the operation and who provided excellent support to the regular police officers. The specials assisted in completing the vehicle checks as well as directing taxi drivers to the location where these checks were being conducted.”