Cherished Number Plates News

'56 PLATE' London Cabs Taken Off The Street

22 September 2008

Hundreds of London's famous black taxi cabs have been ordered off the streets after a series of mystery engine fires have taken place in recent months.

Checks of these cabs were ordered by Transport for London (TfL) on 600 taxis last month after reports of fires in a particular model of cab, the TX4 with a nearly new "56" registration plate.

On Wednesday, an eighth cab burst into an inferno flames, the fourth in London and 12th throughout the country in this month alone. This has since hit the main news and is been taken very seriously as both a threat to the drivers and passengers.

TFL said in a statement: "Following the latest reported fire last night, the Public Carriage Office has suspended the licences of all LTI (London Taxis International) TX4s with a 56 licence plate with immediate effect.

"This is not a step we take lightly, but we cannot take any chances with the lives of London's taxi drivers or their passengers." said a spokesman.

The cause of the blazes still remains a mystery to all involved with continuing investigations taking place. Luckily, so far no one has been hurt in the spontaneous fires.

TfL said LTI, the cab manufacturers, had checked out around 100 affected taxis so far and those that had been examined and found to be safe were allowed to return to the road.

In total there are around 21,000 black cabs in London and are one of tourism’s icons for the city.