THE question of whether CCTV cameras should be installed in Swindon taxis received a lot of support from Adver readers.

The borough council is asking people whether they would be in favour of the new policy being introduced for hackney cabs and private hire vehicles.

The council previously considered doing this two years ago but progress was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and so that councillors could take into account the Department for Transport’s new statutory standards.

Now the standards have been published, the council is keen to consult members of the public, members of the trade, and other organisations before taking a final decision on whether cameras should be installed in these vehicles.

The consultation will run for eight weeks and members of the public have until Monday January 31 2022 to submit their views. The results of the exercise will then be presented to the Licensing Committee for consideration on March 22 2022.

These are a sample of your responses to the question of CCTV in taxis being a good idea:

Nathanael Parker: "Yes, I don’t understand why it hasn’t happened already."

Brad Clark: "I once had a taxi driver accuse me of being sick in his taxi when I hadn’t.

"He pulled over, hurled abuse, grabbed me by the neck and threw me out, demanded payment and sped off leaving me to walk home drunk at 19.

"I hadn’t been sick. CCTV should be mandatory."

Bob Leighfield: "Yes, to protect the passengers from the drivers."

Fatima De Menezes: "Definitely yes."

Paul Hobbs: "Yeah they should [have CCTV] but not be forced to pay for it."

Chris Page: "Yeah, it can keep an eye on their horrendous driving."

Steve Chapman: "Yeah, they should have cctv cameras fitted in all cars

Nicky Kent: "Great idea."

Marc Watson: "I would have thought taxi drivers would already have on-board cameras fitted for their own safety."

Maria O'Malley: "Yes. Safety for both customer and driver."

Tony Broad: "The full story is Swindon Borough Council want each driver to pay them £600 per car to have SBC's CCTV fitted.

"There will be a live feed to SBC of over 1000 cars in Swindon. It’s all about money, not the safety of customers or drivers."

Sharon Hemson: "Yes, it will be good for both customers and drivers."

Hayley Frederick: "Yes absolutely."

Mary Caroline: "Yes, then maybe I get a taxi and not be sexually harassed or ripped off."

Keith Morgan: "Too many taxis in Swindon rip you off."

Terry Davis: "Only if the council pays for it and not the driver. It costs a fortune for the yearly badge, medical, insurance and plating the car

"I was a V Car driver until I retired two years ago and the council was on about it then.

"They were going to supply and fit them at a charge of around £500 then, and wouldn't let you go anywhere else for them.

"Also a lot of customers said if you have a camera looking inside, it breaks the invasion of privacy law so the council would have to get the law changed, which wouldn't happen."

'Stovepipe': "These are private businesses, so if the owner of the vehicle or driver wishes to get CCTV they will.

"Hackney carriage vehicles are not owned by the council. Are the council going to use public money for this? I doubt it, what's going on here?"

'Silvergran': "It would be an added level of security for the taxi drivers, especially when they could get robbed."

'Lane1233': "Some of these private hire vehicles need speed limiters, not CCTV!"