It is vitally important that private hire cars which are used to ferry people around the district are in the best condition they possibly can be.

They must be safe, comfortable and secure if both residents and visitors to the district are to have faith and confidence in the fleet.

That said, accidents will happen, and it is inevitable that sometimes private hire cars will suffer minor damage or, like every other car on the road, will have to undergo repairs and maintenance.

In some cases when cars are damaged to the point where it would cost more than the car is worth to repair, Bradford Council will insist the vehicle is sent to a testing centre for inspection before a licence is reissued to a driver.

Some drivers think this is unfair, especially as the testing centre is in Northampton. They believe the costs associated with getting the cars to this inspection centre are causing problems for the drivers, and that some cars are being sent unnecessarily for inspection when the damage to them does not warrant it.

While it is vital that cars are roadworthy and those that are not are suspended from use as private hire vehicles, there is perhaps some sense in what the drivers are saying with regards to having a much closer inspection centre than Northampton.

It would make more sense to have centres dotted around the country which can cater for large populations without the need to converge on a single central point such as Northampton, and could bring work to local engineers and garages, to get such incidents swiftly and inexpensively sorted out.