Taxi driver turned away from Newbury recycling centre
Furious taxpayer complains to West Berkshire Council
A FURIOUS Newbury taxi driver was considering complaining to the chief executive of West Berkshire Council after he was refused entry to a Newbury household waste recycling centre.
Taxi driver Rodney Nemeth, who lives in Newbury, was turned away from the Newtown Road Household Waste Recycling Centre.
He said: “Taxis have now been banned from dumping their personal waste at the Newtown Road tip, despite the fact that, for many drivers, their taxis are also their personal vehicle, and the only means of transport.
“I was refused entry on the grounds that I was a commercial vehicle.
“I was with my aunt and between us we pay £2,800 in council tax, yet we were prevented from dropping two black bags of household waste, as we were considered commercial tippers.”
Mr Nemeth also queried how commercial vehicles would be policed, pointing out cars driven by salespeople were technically commercial vehicles.
“No wonder pictures of fly-tipping are appearing daily on social media,” he said.
Despite leaving four messages for the head of waste management at West Berkshire Council to contact him about the issue, he said he had not received any response.
“I will now have to escalate my complaint to the chief executive of WBC,” said Mr Nemeth.
West Berkshire Council spokesman Martin Dunscombe said in a statement: “Our waste permits were issued along with information about the access it allowed and specific advice for owners of commercial vehicles.
“Now that the waste permit scheme has been implemented we are keeping it under review and this includes how liveried vehicles might be accommodated within the scheme in future.”