Representing and supporting the Taxi trade in County Durham.

About Us

You can feel completely safe in a Durham County Council licensed hackney vehicle. All drivers have enhanced DBS clearance, and will wear a taxi badge with their photo. Another badge will be displayed in the vehicle.
All taxis licensed by D.C.C. are fitted with meters to ensure customers are charged the correct fare. Many are now fitted with CCTV which gives security for passengers and for the driver. Images and recordings are automatically deleted, unless of course an incident occurs.

What's the difference between
a Taxi and a Private Hire vehicle?

A hackney taxi is the only vehicle available for immediate hire. It can be hailed anywhere in County Durham or you can book one at a taxi rank. They always have a roof sign with the word TAXI shown on it and this should be illuminated if the taxi is availible for hire, as well as a "For Hire" sign in the bottom left corner of the windscreen.
They also have a hackney plate at the rear of the vehicle, and yellow door decals on the front doors with the hackney license number and number of passengers the vehicle can carry.

Private hire vehicles do not have "For Hire" signs, and have white door decals, which include the words "Private Hire, Pre-bookings only" and they are not available for immediate hire. They can only be pre-booked through the company concerned.
In fact if you manage to carry out an immediate hiring of a private hire vehicle you are not insured!!