Police kibosh cab drivers' Olympic lane strike
Posted: 27 July 2012
The police have banned London cab drivers from staging a protest against prohibition from using Olympic traffic lanes.
The United Cabbies Group (UCG) was planning to hold a procession today at Hyde Park at around 1700, shortly before the opening ceremony, but the police has banned them performing any such act of defiance on any part of the Olympic Route Network between 1600 and 0300.
Participants in any procession have also been forbidden from venturing north of the River Thames between the times specified.
The police believe the planned demonstration would have caused “serious disruption to the life of the community”
The general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union Bob Crow was left exasperated by the developments.
He said: "It remains extraordinary that the licensed taxi drivers who are a key part of London's transport system are still banned from the VIP lanes on the eve of the Olympics.
"The iconic London black cab was a central part of the imagery that secured London the Games and, even at this late stage, Mayor Boris Johnson should step in and allow them to use the Olympics lanes to help keep the city moving."
In their quest to make their displeasure known at not being able to use to special Olympic lanes, the dissident drivers have already staged two separate protests. Firstly they caused a traffic jam outside the Houses of Parliament, and in a later show of audacity they gathered on Tower Bridge.