Black Country taxi chief reveals the dangers of life on the road as he details horrific incidents

Those are the words of Minhaj Uddin, chair of the Private Hire Drivers Alliance who is a taxi driver in the Black Country, who described the dangers that private hire drivers face on a 'near daily basis'.

Talking exclusively to the Express and Star as part of our Silent Crime campaign about unreported and unpunished offences, Minhaj said that more needs to be done to stem the number of incidents that drivers face on their shifts, sharing with us the horrific incidents his friends and himself have experienced while at work.

"The driver picked the fair up, and it just all went wrong," Minhaj said, detailing an incident involving a bladed weapon.

"He saw him pull out this machete and – luckily the driver was experienced and level-headed. He stopped the car and managed to get the thief out."

The chairman said that while drivers face threats of violence 'on a daily basis', many incidents go unreported due to stringent operator rules and a lack of police response.

He said: "When an incident does happen, you have to report it to the taxi operator first and then it goes to the police, sometimes they just end up going unreported if they aren't deemed serious enough.