A Chauffeur has been jailed for eight years after trying to smuggle drugs worth £300,000 through the Channel Tunnel using beer cans. Read More

Tristar Worldwide has taken delivery of 53 Volvo XC vehicles over the past month to help it cope with bad weather which grinds some chauffeur companies to a halt. Read More

A limousine hire firm has told of their experiences following an inspection from VOSA officials as part of the recent crackdown. Read More

BMW has recently shown pictures of its new 6 Series Gran Coupé, revealing a refined rear seat layout – could this be yet another option for chauffeurs? Read More

Lady Gaga has apparently treated her long-term chauffeur after he announced he was to become a dad. Read More

The Chauffeur App is delighted to offer this unique service to the chauffeur industry. Read More

Recession or not, Leeds-Bradford airport is spending £11 million on improving its terminal high on a hill north of Leeds, although two of travellers’ grouches will remain, at least for now.

The money will be spent on extending the security area, where there is often a long queue, and enlarging the waiting area for outbound passengers with, inevitably, more shops.
There will also be a covered walkway from the terminal to planes, a potential blessing on an exposed site which frequently gets the brunt of wind and rain.

The unaltered irritations are the £2 drop-off fee, which leads to passengers getting out on approach roads before their lifts get locked into the one-way, no-escape system; and the continuing mess in the security area imposed on the terminal forecourt after the Glasgow terrorist attack. That was four years ago, but Yeadon’s apron between the terminal and the bus-stops has been an unwelcoming dead zone all that time.

This will change, the airport says, once use of a major part of the area for contractors making the terminal improvements is over. The airport is interested in suggestions for how to make the space more agreeable, so please send them in. My own would be some sort of vintage aircraft on display, like the Spitfires and the like which you see at the entrance to RAF bases.

The drop-off fee is staying. The airport says that 12 other UK airports impose similar charges and so this appears to be the shape of things to come. They promise, however, to give better publicity to the option of an hour’s free parking in the long-stay with drop-off passengers getting the free shuttle to the terminal. There’s also the under-used 757 airport bus to and from Leeds.

Taxi drivers have to pay the fee too, but can buy a £25 annual ticket for 15 free minutes per drop-off in the short-term car park.

The investment promises good things otherwise, with Jet2 making a far better fist of being ‘Yorkshire’s airline’ than any of its predecessors. The airport’s chief executive John Parkin wants to see passenger numbers rise from 2.95m to 5m and destinations from 70 to 100.

Coun Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for city development, said; “The development of the inside of the airport terminal building will greatly improve the travelling experience for overseas visitors, travellers and tourists. All of this is extremely important for bringing business, tourism and investment to Leeds and the wider city region.

“We also welcome the new jobs that will be created through the programme and particularly the commitment to use local labour wherever possible.”

Source: The Guardian

A video has been released of the naked gunman who stole a Hummer limousine from its driver in California.

The carjacker was caught on camera fleeing from a stretched Hummer and was soon dragged to the ground by a police dog after abandoning the limousine following a 30-mile chase.

The chauffeur called 911 after it was allegedly stolen at gunpoint and highway patrol officers gave chase with a police helicopter capturing the scene from above. The chase eventually ended in Whittier, when the lone driver ground to a halt in a residential area.

The bare-bottomed man waves his arms as he runs through residents’ front lawns before being caught by a police dog. The footage has amused thousands of viewers on YouTube with one commenting: “Good doggy!”

For any self-employed chauffeur, it’s paramount correct income protection insurance is secured in case the worse happens – but a chauffeur is warning the industry to check their insurance pay-out terms following a recent case. Read More

An ex chauffeur of charity campaigner, Heather Mills, has been fined after using a photocopy of her disabled badge to park outside a supermarket in Palmers Green.

Stewart Simonson, 65, of John Gooch Drive, Enfield was caught using the photocopied blue parking badge to park his Smart Car on a yellow line in Lodge Avenue, months after he stopped working for Ms Mills in March. Enfield Magistrates Court heard how Simonson suffers with arthritis and had stopped off to buy painkillers as well as batteries for his watch on September 24.

In a statement, Simonson explained his arthritis forced him to give up working for Ms Mills, who lost her left leg in a road incident in 1993.

He said: “I’m in constant pain and unable to walk a great distance.”

Simonson has applied for his own disabled badge and claimed this was the “one and only” time he had used the photocopied badge belonging to Ms Mills who apparently gave consent for the copy to be taken because she often forgot to carry the original badge.

Simonson, who did not appear in court today, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £660 in fines and court costs.

Source: Enfield Independent