Scramble for taxis led to 'fighting' on rank after festival

People were seen fighting and walking into a busy road as they jostled for taxis on Saturday night, prompting calls to the police for help.

At the conclusion of Newark Festival’s second day hundreds of people left the site and walked to the taxi rank on Castlegate.

Taxi drivers, already struggling to park as two private cars had been left in the rank, said they witnessed scenes of chaos — fights broke out and people further back in the queue ran forward to try to flag down taxis.

Taxis that could not park in the limited spaces were forced to park on the road, with other vehicles having to pass around them.

Experienced self-employed taxi driver Mr Sean Stevens, 44, of Balderton, estimated that at one point there were about 400 people waiting for taxis. More than 5,000 people attended the festival on Saturday.

He said: “It was dreadful. People were fighting and arguing. There was no front of the queue. People from the back were trying to flag down taxis and walking into the road.

“A member of the public stopped a police car driving past to get some help.

“Everyone seemed to be arguing over who was first in the queue. People getting into my car were being abused by other people.”

'Someone will get injured unless it’s sorted out'

There were no reported problems at the three-day festival on Riverside Park.

Organisers Liz Hobbs Group had negotiated with East Midlands Trains for extra services on Saturday night for festival-goers.

Mr Stevens, who was working throughout the night and took no telephone bookings due to high demand, said it was 1am before he did not see a queue at the rank.

He said for years drivers in and around the Newark area had experienced problems with private cars parking in the taxi rank during restricted hours.

“We expect to be able to pull up there (Castlegate) and pick up passengers,” Mr Stevens said.

“On Saturday there were two private cars parked there.

“Passengers expect to get home safely but someone will get injured unless it’s sorted out. The rank being for taxis needs to be enforced better.”

Mr Gee Deba, also a self-employed taxi driver, said cars parked in the Castlegate taxi rank every day.

'Enforcement action will be taken'

A spokesman for Newark and Sherwood District Council said: “We are aware of the issues of privately-parked cars using the taxi rank on Castlegate and the town’s civil enforcement officers will be regularly patrolling that area on Friday and Saturday nights.

“If motorists are in breach of the restrictions, enforcement action will be taken.”

Nottinghamshire Police said officers found boisterous behaviour at the taxi rank after receiving a non-emergency call to attend. No arrests were made.

Mr Alan Mellor, the clerk to Newark Town Council, which jointly organises the festival, said: “We will have discussions with the district council to see how we can better manage the process of so many leaving at the same time and heading for the same taxi rank for next year.

“When we are made aware of something we always act as we want to ensure that the festival is as trouble-free as possible.”

The council said the festival itself was trouble-free over all three days.

It said efforts were made to get people away safely and quickly through additional train services.