Safety Advice for ‘Night on the Town’ Festive Revellers

You are advised not to use unlicensed taxis or flag down private hire vehicles over the festive season and follow these steps to ensure a safe journey:

• ‘Yellow plate’ private hire vehicles must be pre-booked. Only ‘blue plate’ hackney carriages can be flagged down or hired from a taxi rank and it is illegal for private hire vehicles to pick up passengers in the street, unless they are pre-booked
• Check drivers are wearing identification badges that have not expired
• Check the identity of drivers against photographs on identification badges
• Check that the vehicle is displaying licence plates at the back and on the left of the windscreen – if in doubt take a photograph of the plates
• Do not give personal details to drivers
• Agree private hire fees in advance with operators (hackney cab fees are set by the council)

Ribble Valley Borough Council’s register of licensed operators, vehicles and drivers featuring the names of taxi licence holders, along with licence numbers, issue and expiry dates, and licence terms, is available at Ribble Valley Borough Council - Public Registers.

You can use the register to ensure drivers and vehicles are licensed, which means they will be safe, comfortable and roadworthy, and that drivers have a reasonable knowledge of the area, are medically fit and free from serious convictions.

Partygoers are also advised to be on the lookout for ‘spiking’ when visiting busy pubs and nightclubs.

Spiking typically involves putting alcohol or drugs, prescription or otherwise, into someone’s drink, food, cigarette, or vape, as well as injecting someone with substances, without their knowledge or permission.

There are things you can do to protect yourself from spiking, such as don’t leave your food or drink unattended, don’t accept a drink from someone you don’t know and stay together with friends.

There were 6,732 reports of spiking in the UK in 2023, nearly 1,000 relating to needle-spiking, with most of the victims being women and young people.

Spiking symptoms include loss of balance, feeling sleepy, visual problems, confusion, nausea, vomiting and unconsciousness.

If you or a friend start to feel strange or more drunk than you should be get help immediately:

• Tell a bar manager, bouncer or member of staff, or ‘Ask for Angela’
• Stay with your friend and keep talking to them
• Call an ambulance if their condition deteriorates
• Don’t let them go home on their own
• Don’t let them leave with someone you don’t know or trust
• Don’t let them drink more alcohol – this could lead to serious problems

If you suspect a taxi firm of operating without a licence, or a driver of driving without a licence or using an unlicensed vehicle, contact Ribble Valley Borough Council’s licensing team on 01200 414411.

Further details about the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme, which allows you to discreetly ask for help from staff in pubs and clubs, is available at Ask For Angela.