A WINSFORD taxi driver is appealing for help to protect people who work on their own with the public.

Alan Halpin, a driver for Winsford Cars, made the call following an incident last Tuesday when two offenders attacked his taxi.

He said: "I picked up two people outside Debees at about 11.45pm when a couple of youths, who I don't think were drinking in Debees, came running over and started kicking my car in."

Alan called the police but is disappointed with the response he received. He said: "I called 999 and was basically told my life was not in danger and I shouldn't be calling this number.

"How am supposed to know when my life is in danger? Should I wait until they start kicking my head in before I call the police?

"I think there needs to be some way for taxi drivers to contact the police because we are at risk and I was kept waiting for too long.

"If we can't call 999 then what happens if a driver doesn't have any credit on his mobile phone?

"This is the case for anyone who works alone with the public, not just taxi drivers."

The incident comes less than two months after taxi driver Jim Duffy was struck in the face with a brick on Dene Drive.

Alan said: "There is talk of setting up a scheme to ban certain people from using taxis in Winsford. This does seem like a good idea but I'm not sure how easy it will be to enforce. But something definitely needs to be done because taxi drivers are at risk of things like this happening to them."

Insp Brian Roberts, from Winsford's neighbourhood policing unit, said: "I am fully aware of the incident with Mr Halpin and I have spoken to him directly.

"I will be looking into the decision not to deploy officers to this particular incident and I will contact Alan.

"I have spoken publicly about the force deployment policy and the difficult decisions that have to be made by the call handling staff about whether an officer should attend an incident.

"The demand is too great for us to attend every incident that the public would like us to arrive at."

Insp Roberts has confirmed that work is being done to improve the safety of people working on public transport. He said: "I am particularly concerned about this incident because Alan is a local taxi driver.

"I am at a very early stage of organising a Travel Safe scheme for the taxi operators, bus drivers and all the passengers in Winsford.

"This scheme will involve the police working closely with the taxis and bus companies including travelling around Winsford with them. We will be working with the Community Safety Partnership to launch this scheme in the coming weeks."