EXCLUSIVE

A COUNCIL committee voted to restore the taxi licence of a convicted sex offender.

For the past four weeks cabbie Mohammed Altaf has been able to legally pick up female passengers unaware of his past.

He was convicted in November last year of sexually touching a woman over the age of 16.

The incident, which took place in August, involved him touching a taxi passenger on the stomach and grabbing hold of her bra while in his cab.

Altaf, 32, of Swiss Street, Accrington, was ordered to complete 250 hours unpaid work, fined £150 and ordered to pay £100 costs by Hyndburn magistrates. His taxi licence was revoked.

But on 19 February the council's Licensing Committee amazingly granted his appeal to have the licence restored even though the conviction is not spent until 2011.

They decided he was a "fit and proper person" to hold a licence.

The meeting was held in private but the confidential minutes were leaked to the Observer.

Our "mole" said: "This is appalling. Surely the safety of our wives, girlfriends and daughters should be paramount.

"It's an unbelievable decision. They must have been off their heads.''

Now the council's managing director David Welsby has stepped in to defuse the row.

After concerns were expressed to him, he ordered a senior official to urgently investigate and review the committee decision.

He confirmed that the committee's decision to restore the licence would have taken effect immediately.

He added: "This is a confidential report and I am not in a position to comment further."

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "This was a cross-party decision which the managing director has chosen to review. He's entitled to do that and we respect his decision."

The committee was chaired by Councillor Allah Dad and the members were his fellow Conservatives Marlene Haworth and Brian Roberts and Labour's John Broadley and Clare Pritchard.

The application to restore the licence was passed by four votes to one but Councillor Pritchard felt so strongly she asked for her vote against to be recorded.

All the councillors were aware of father-of-two Altaf's conviction and they were advised by officials not to "second guess" the facts of the court case.

They all declined to comment to the Observer because it would breach their code of conduct.

Speaking on behalf of Altaf, his cousin Mohammed Bashir said: "Nobody forced the councillors to make the decision - they gave him his licence back."

He added: "This is his living. If he cannot work how can he feed his family and pay his mortgage?"

Mohammed Arif, chairman of Hyndburn Taxi Association, was unavailable for comment.

A spokeswoman for Hyndburn Women's Forum advised women to carry the number of a reputable licensed taxi firm, to ask the name of the driver when booking a cab and to check the name of the driver and firm before they get in.

She added: "Sharing a taxi with a friend is always a great idea. But if you are alone try and sit in the back.''