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North Essex: arrests 'ruined' girls' prom night

8:50am Sunday 27th July 2008 in


PARENTS have slammed police for ruining their daughter’s school prom by arresting their limousine drivers.

Families said their youngsters were left stranded after police seized three stretch limousines outside Wivenhoe House Hotel, Essex University, where teenagers from Colne Community School, Brightlingsea, were celebrating.

The operation was part of a county-wide crackdown on unlicenced or uninsured limousine drivers by Essex Police’s commercial vehicle investigation department.

:: Read the full story in Monday's Gazette

Comments(12)

crazy comments says...
10:50am Sun 27 Jul 08

Police would be better off stopping the cars that drive out of the car auctions at Frating on a Thursday night. All of them untaxed and very unlikely insured and then driven back down the A12 to London. I am a full time motor dealer that has to pay a horrendous insurance premium and also the scrutiny of me as a person and the expensive cost of purchasing trade plates. Its a total outrage and i have written many times to the Police regards this. The trouble is the police want easy pickings and not travel to London to track down people that perhaps do not or should not exist in this country. I am nor racist but things like this make my blood boil. Why should others escape breaking the law blatently.

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Say It As It Is OK? says...
1:08pm Sun 27 Jul 08

crazy comments...you make a valid point but two wrongs don't make a right. Do they?

The parents of these children should be thanking the police. And, as parents they should have checked these limo's were supplied by properly registered companies with the correct passenger liability insurance.

What if an accident had occured, bad in itself, but with an unisurred driver, it could make the situation much worse!

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Cliff says...
1:33pm Sun 27 Jul 08

Apart from the fact that Proms are an American waste of space (and that includes the space given to them in the Gazette) I agree with the view that the parents should be grateful, not angry, to the police for removing from the scene drivers who if they were unlicensed and uninsured were a hazard to their children.

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No! I am Spartacus says...
3:08pm Sun 27 Jul 08

''PARENTS have slammed police for ruining their daughter’s school prom by arresting their limousine drivers. ''

When would they have preferred? During a wedding? An engagement? A Birthday, perhaps? Sounds like they are a bunch of Social Nimbys.

I bet these same parents would have also been the first to jump on the bandwagon if the Limo crashed, hurt their child and then discovered the vehicle wasn't insured.

To 'Crazy comments, Clacton'
''Why should others escape breaking the law blatently. ''

I agree. I'd personally like zero tolerance. In the meantime though, whilst Police do the best job they can under the circumstances, why don't you contact DVLA to check into your issue- they can investigate your allegations and save the police the time...

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Country Lass says...
9:47pm Sun 27 Jul 08

If these limousines were not taxed or insured, then there is a good chance that these vehicles were also not maintained to a safe and roadworthy standard. These young people, with all their lives before them, could have made the Gazette's front pages under far more tragic circumstances.
It is a little dramatic to say they were "left stranded". Essex University is hardly miles away from any of the villages that feed the Colne Community School. Surely the parents of these youngsters should be relieved and not put out because they may have had to make other arrangements to get them home.
These uninsured drivers impose costs on honest motorists, whose premiums are increased to cover the millions of pounds for the Motor Insurers Bureau, which provides compensation to those injured by uninsured drivers.
Yes, why should others break the law blatantly at the cost of others lives and pockets.
Well done Essex Police!

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Fox Hat says...
10:02am Mon 28 Jul 08

Agree totally with the comments above, I would assume that even if these youngsters didn't have mobile phones, their friends would have and they would have been able to call their parents, who even if they weren't able to collect them, should have been able to arrange a taxi, or perhaps they are so incompetent or were so drink and drugs addled that this was beyond them.
I hate to think what the next american import to hit schools will be...

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The REAL Norm says...
1:57pm Mon 28 Jul 08

The Gazette only covers proms for the following reasons:

1) It's a dead easy way to fill a couple of pages with photos of lots of people.

2) They can try and sell the pictures to the people in them to raise some extra cash.

3) They hope that all the people attending the prom will buy the paper to see their picture thereby increasing circulation.

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hughie-s says...
3:39pm Mon 28 Jul 08

Were they carrying more than eight passengers?

From http://www.goldbandw
eddinglimo.co.uk/lim
o_law.htm


Any Stretch Limousine no matter how many seats it has is only allowed to carry a maximum of eight passengers, the UK law states that to carry more than eight passengers you require a PCV licence: for the driver and a certificate of initial fitness (COIF) for the vehicle. While it is relatively simple to obtain a PCV licence personally, it is impossible to obtain a COIF for a Stretch Limousine to carry more than eight passengers, as the vehicles do not comply with UK regulations regarding headroom, doors etc. Without this certificate and in the event of an accident are you insured with more than eight of you in a stretch limousine?

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Boris says...
7:45pm Mon 28 Jul 08

Well said everyone, except for crazy comments who veers off the point. And very well said Norm, these "proms" are not news. But with not so many property adverts these days, they have to invent "news" events to sell their paer and make a bit of money. Only problem is, their journalists usually seem to be on the side of the idiots.

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justness says...
8:24pm Mon 28 Jul 08

Caught in the act PERFECT,parents should have asked for license/insurance after all you have raised them and paid a fortune to these cowboys and fly by nights. Come on mr policeman keep it up.Lets have the lawbreakers brought to book and let the country start to have a law abiding society again.

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double yummy mummy says...
9:58pm Tue 29 Jul 08

oh come on ! these parents would be the first to slate the police if their precious princesses were involved in a serious accident and found out the cars were uninsured etc!

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Shoong says...
11:51am Mon 5 Jul 10

Prom nights - a vulgar import from the states.

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