A hackney carriage is a public transport vehicle with no more than 8 passenger seats, which is licensed to ply for hire. This means that it may stand at ranks or be hailed in the street by members of the public.
Private hire vehicles too must have no more than 8 passenger seats but they must be booked in advance by customers through an operator and may not ply for hire in the street.
The Authority currently licences 187 hackney carriages and approximately 400 private hire vehicles as well as 30 private hire operators.
It has approximately 265 drivers licensed to drive hackney carriages and 450 licensed to drive private hire vehicles.
The Licensing Section of the Authority’s Environmental Health Department is responsible for the regulation and enforcement of the hackney carriage and private hire trades.
The Authority’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2009-12 is a statement of how it will carry out that responsibility and can be accessed below in full or parts of it from the link on the left of this page.
Vehicle Licensing Procedure
Changes to the procedure for issuing, renewing and transferring vehicle licences commenced from 1st February 2010.
It is now no longer possible to licence a vehicle by appointment at the Contact Centre in the Town Hall.
Applicants are required to send by post or deliver by hand the following documents to the reception desk at Lancastria House, 77-79 Lancaster Road, Preston PR1 2RH:-
- completed application form
- relevant insurance certificate (or certified copy)
- compliance certificate and MOT
- collection form
The application fee can be paid as follows:-
The licence, vehicle plates, display card etc. and original documents will be available for collection from Lancastria House 2 working days after we have received the application unless alternative arrangements have been made.
Please note; there is no change to the procedure for dealing with driver applications.
Document links