The Black Country taxi boss reveals the dangers of life on the road as he details horrific incidents

These are the words of Minhaj Uddin, chairman of the Private Hire Drivers Alliance and taxi driver in the Black Country, who described the dangers private hire drivers face “almost every day”.

In an exclusive conversation with Express and Star, Minhaj said more needs to be done to curb the number of incidents drivers face during their shift and shared with us the horrific incidents his friends and himself have experienced while on the job have experienced.

“The driver picked up the car and everything just went wrong,” said Minhaj, describing an incident involving a bladed weapon.

“He saw him pull out this machete and – luckily the driver was experienced and level-headed. He stopped the car and managed to get the thief out.”

The chairman said that while motorists face threats of violence on a “daily basis”, many incidents go unreported due to strict operator rules and a lack of police response.

He said: “If an incident happens you have to report it to the taxi company first and then go to the police. Sometimes it just goes unreported if it’s not considered serious enough.”