Hospitality boss warns Glasgow LEZ could kill of nighttime economy
Yesterday we told you some private hire drivers are being forced to upgrade their vehicles or face going out of business.
A top hospitality boss in Glasgow is warning staff will struggle to get home from work at night if there are even fewer taxis on the road when the Low Emission Zone comes into force.
Yesterday, we told you private hire drivers with older vehicles are being forced to spend thousands of pounds upgrading to a hybrid car or face losing their job.
"Many of our customers will just choose not to come into the centre"
Michael Bergson runs Bucks Bar and Thundercat in the city centre and is warning fewer private hire drivers could be detrimental to restaurants and bars.
He told Clyde 1: "It will affect how staff can get to work and their ability to get home at night.
"I do not know if this is an absolute necessity at this moment in time because businesses are struggling.
"Considering we now have the least amount of parking spaces and taxis in the history of the city centre, this Low Emission Zone feels like another tax at the worst possible time.
"Many of our customers will just choose not to come into the centre and do their shopping elsewhere."
The rule change bans the heaviest polluting vehicles which means drivers of petrol cars from before 2006 or diesel cars registered before September 2015 would be slapped with a £60 fine for entering the LEZ.
However, Blair Anderson is a Green councillor for Partick East and Kelvindale and is claiming it is not about reducing the number of taxis on the roads.
He said: "We want to see more taxis in less polluting vehicles.
"Some private hire drivers can claim financial support from Transport Scotland and we hope that people will be able to retrofit or replace polluting vehicles so passengers can continue getting in and out of the city."
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