Uber is issued a licence to operate in Poole but fears are raised over safety of residents

The American private hire service, which uses a mobile phone app with GPS mapping and cashless payment system, already operates in Southampton and Portsmouth.

Earlier this year the Echo reported how the San Francisco-based firm was in talks with Bournemouth Council. Now, neighbouring Borough of Poole (BOP) has confirmed Uber has been issued a licence to operate on its streets.

Cllr Marion Pope, representing Merley and Bearwood ward, has already resigned from BOP’s licensing committee over the issue. She tendered her resignation on Monday after learning the decision to issue an Uber licence had been made by a council officer under delegated powers.

Meanwhile, Cllr Phil Eades says he has real concerns about the safety of Poole residents using Uber.

He explained: “We don’t know if their drivers are properly licensed, we don’t know if they’ve had criminal records checks and we don’t know if they can even speak English. We don’t know if the drivers driving for Uber are checked in the same way Borough of Poole licensed taxi drivers are.

“The whole point about the taxi licensing system is that it is supposed to offer protection to residents using taxis. I’m afraid if anyone can just rock up with a smart phone in their car and portray themselves as a taxi driver, then that worries me.”

Describing the committee as “toothless” Cllr Pope told the Echo: “There has to be openness and transparency in everything we do - that was not apparent here.”

Cllr Pope says she understands decisions need to be made by unelected officers in some council departments, such as planning, because there are so many applications.

But the independent councillor firmly believes any decision on Uber coming to Poole should have been taken in committee by elected members, to avoid accusations of inpropriety, and only after interested parties - such as taxi drivers - had chance to be consulted.

Cllr Pope said: “A taxi operator that wrote to me was unhappy because he’d just invested in two new vehicles and obviously would have liked to have made some representations.

“One of my concerns about Uber is that there’s been huge publicity about how badly the drivers are put upon.”

“If we have to defer to unelected officers for information about what is happening in Poole, then what is the point in being on the committee.”

As a concept Uber has courted controversy, accused in some parts of the world of undercutting established taxi services with low prices and unlicensed drivers.

BOP licensing team manager Frank Wenzel said: “Uber have applied and been granted a Private Hire Operators licence to work in Poole. Their application was processed in accordance with the council’s procedures which are the same for all applications received by the council for a Private Hire Operators licence.”

Earlier this year Bournemouth Council’s Cllr David Kelsey confirmed he’d met with representatives from Uber. He said: “We told them if they want to come here it will be treated the same as every other application. They will have to apply for an operator’s licence, even if it is online only.”

Fred Jones, general manager, Uber said: “Uber abides by the same rules and regulations as all other private hire operators.

"The drivers that use the Uber app are fully licensed private hire drivers and have been through the same Enhanced DBS background check as taxi drivers and care workers.

"We have seen a huge increase in demand for our service in the area as people want an affordable, safe and convenient ride at the touch of a button.”