AN APPLEDORE taxi driver, caught by a council sting operating a hire car business without a licence, has been fined £150 but ordered to pay another £974.62 towards the cost of the operation.

Darren Screech, 41, of 59 Staddon Road, was found guilty on three separate charges of using a private hire vehicle without the necessary licences from Torridge District Council.

Barnstaple Magistrates Court heard that Screech had been using a silver Volkswagen Transporter for almost a year for long haul trips to airports.

The council said on November 28 last year undercover officers carried out a joint operation with Barnstaple traffic police and hired Mr Screech's vehicle for a trip to Bristol Airport.

The authority said the evidence produced by council officers as a result of the "elaborate sting" was sufficient to bring a successful prosecution in court.

Ray Webster, head of environmental health and public protection at Torridge District Council, said: "Using an unlicensed vehicle is a serious offence. The whole purpose of the licensing regime is to ensure public safety.

"People who operate outside the law are potentially putting the public at risk. The council only takes this sort of action as a last resort but we have a duty to protect the public and uphold the law."

Tony Nicholls, the council's licensing manager added: "It is extremely difficult to obtain evidence of illegal hire car operation and, in these situations, the only realistic option for the council is to mount an undercover operation. In this particular case, the operator had been warned on several occasions that he was committing an offence by using an unlicensed vehicle so we had to act.

"This result shows that the council will take strong action when necessary to enforce the law."

Councillor Andy Boyd, chairman of the council's licensing committee, said: "The council expects high standards of its licensed taxi and private hire operators as this helps to provide a quality service to the travelling public. But we also have to think about the needs of licence holders who pay considerable fees to the council and are subject to rigorous checks.

"Illegal operators avoid all these obligations and therefore have an unfair advantage over law-abiding operators. This is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated."