The mum of an autistic teen says she has been struggling to get her son to school as he refuses to travel with his allocated taxi driver due to concerns over his behaviour.
Amanda Sherriff claims that the driver who has been taking her son to school since September 2021 has been vaping in his vehicle whilst transporting special needs pupils to school. She added that when her son does travel in the taxi he often returns home and reports that the driver has been "nasty" to him.
Amanda, from Whitley Bay, said: "I couldn't get him to school on Tuesday because he refused to get in the taxi and I had to drive him there [yesterday], which is a 12-mile round trip and I have to go back to pick him up. I physically can't be doing that every day because I've got two other children and I work.
"If I was to smoke in the car I would get done by the police. But this guy is still driving around and transporting vulnerable children around in this taxi."
The 46-year-old mum-of-three added: "Every time my son comes in from school he says 'the taxi's nasty, the taxi driver's nasty. He's always having a go at me because I'm scratching at my head, or picking at my arms, or stamping my feet' - but he has these tics so he can't help it."
Pearson's Travel, which is contracted to provide the taxi service, denies the allegations of vaping in the vehicle and added that they were unaware of the allegations about the driver commenting on the service user scratching his head, picking his arms, or stamping his feet. The company added that sometimes service users are asked to sit in their seats correctly for safety reasons.
Amanda explained that her son receives transport to school through her local authority as he needs to attend a SEN school, which is located more than two miles from his home. She added that due to having other children at home and work commitments, which also involve her working away, she is unable to take her son to school.
She said since becoming aware of the allegations on July 13, she has lodged a number of complaints with North Tyneside Council and her son's school, but was left frustrated by a lack of response to her complaint.
In an email seen by ChronicleLive, Amanda contacted the council and her son's school, Silverdale ARP School, in Wallsend, on September 6 to outline her complaint again, claiming no one had contacted her about it. She said the email was again forwarded to the council and Silverdale ARP School the following day.
North Tyneside Council told ChronicleLive that they have now arranged for another driver to take Amanda's son to school. Amanda received an email from the council on Wednesday to say that they would speak to the taxi company to see what could be done about the situation.
Amanda said: "I put my original complaint in to the local authority two weeks before the end of school and before the summer holidays I had to take my son to school because he wouldn't get in the car with this guy while the complaint was going on and they've only just responded to me on Wednesday. I'm disgusted with it.
"They said that they will be looking into the matter and that they have passed my concern on to the taxi firm."
Mark Longstaff, Director of Commissioning and Asset Management at North Tyneside Council, said: "In North Tyneside we take great care to ensure that transport arrangements are suitable for parents and children. We take residents' concerns seriously and when a complaint is received, we work with individuals and our partners to investigate and reach a suitable resolution as soon as possible.
"We are pleased a resolution has been reached and this complaint is closed."
A spokesperson for Pearson's Travel said: "We are a small family run business, who have been providing home to school transport to the local authority for over 10 years and try very hard to provide an excellent service.
"We do not condone smoking of any kind in our vehicles especially when there is service users on board. [The driver] has worked for us for a number of years and has never had any problems of complaints, the allegation was raised last term and deemed unfounded by the council's licensing officers.
"Sometimes service users are asked to sit in their seats correctly as this is a safety issue if there is an accident, nothing to do with fidgeting service users must wear seatbelts at all times this is the law. I can't comment on the skin or hair allegation as nobody seems to know anything about this.
"Since these allegations have been made we made a decision to move [the driver] to a different contract to prevent any further issues, however we still continue to service this contract for the local authority."
Silverdale ARP School was contacted for a comment.
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