Chelmsford will come to a standstill permanently if there is no control on the number of taxis allowed to operate.

That is the claim of the Chelmsford Taxi Association (CTA) in its fight to persuade Chelmsford Council not to go ahead with a move to delimit Hackney Carriage licences.

And to prove its point, the association mustered its members to take part in a protest on Monday night ahead of the council's cabinet meeting today when a decision is set to be made.

Craig Parish, deputy chairman of the CTA, said about 30 taxis would be working the rank at Chelmsford railway station on a normal evening between 4.30pm and 6.30pm. This was increased dramatically during last night's demonstration to show how the town would become clogged up with the extra vehicles.

At present, there are 104 licensed vehicles in the borough but Mr Parish said this could be quadrupled.

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Published Tuesday, December 14, 2004

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