Blackpool landau drivers punished for ignoring traffic rules

Three drivers had their licences suspended in October after flouting rules on the Promenade which town hall chiefs said had put the safety of their passengers, other drivers and their horses at risk.

Offences included turning right through a red light and travelling straight on while using a right hand turn lane.

Three drivers were hauled before Blackpool Council’s public protection sub-committee after transgressions were witnessed by town hall licensing officers on the Promenade.

All three had their licences to operate suspended for two weeks.

The hearings were held in private, but speaking after the meeting, committee chairman Coun Adrian Hutton said law breaking by drivers of the horse-drawn vehicles would not be tolerated.

He said: “We need to send out a very forceful message that this is not acceptable.

“It is breaking the law and putting passengers, other road users and the horses at risk.

“Others have had written warnings but the message doesn’t seem to be getting through.

“Suspending a licence is not a decision we take lightly, bearing in mind the economic climate, but if they break the law that’s what we have to do.”

Minutes from the public protection sub-committee of October 6 said drivers “turning in contravention to road signage on the Promenade had been an ongoing problem.”

Incidents included driving through a red light at the junction with Chapel Street, turning across the left hand lane after being positioned in traffic to go straight ahead, and continuing straight ahead after being positioned in the right hand turning lane.

The drivers, who cannot be named, provided mitigating circumstances for their actions including in one case blaming the incident on a firework being thrown “which had resulted in the horse moving towards the left hand lane when the carriage had been originally intending to turn right into Chapel Street.”

But Coun Hutton said drivers were trying to get ahead of other traffic and the incidents seen by officers were “quite blatant.”

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