Earlier today an ex-London cab was stolen from our depot in broad daylight.

We have recently had three vehicles for sale: an old bus, an old van and an old taxi. A gentleman came over to look at them, and we agreed a deal. He paid £550 for the Mercedes van, and picked that up on the 16 October. He cam,e back a couple of days days later, paid a further £480 and picked up the old bus. Then today he came for the taxi. He came into the office and asked for a discount off the £70 we had agreed because the bus he bought last week had had no starter motor.
Tom, our MD, said no, sorry, all the vehicles are sold as seen and he knew the bus had no starter motor before he bought it. He then went downstairs with our Bus & Coach Services Manager to see if the garage downstairs had a starter motor for the bus, but they didn’t.
Rather than coming back up to pay the £70 for the taxi, he jumped in the car transporter, already loaded with the vehicle and drove out of the depot as fast as he could, leaving our Bus & Coach Manager and the mechanics from the workshop to jump out of the way.

The man who took the taxi is white, about 5 feet 10 inches, calls himself Jim and speaks with a thick Irish accent. He has curly grey hair down to his shoulders. He gave his business name as CC Cars and an address in Burgess Hill. His mobile number is 07876 800694.

If he tries to buy or sell anything from you, please call the police and also call us. Thank you.

We have informed Universal Trailors that their equipment has been used for the theft of a vehicle and we have informed the Police. Having spent a couple of hours on site the Police have decided that it is a ‘financial dispute’ and are taking no further action. We are also lodging a complaint with Sussex Police in an attempt to treat this as a theft and get us our taxi back.

If you have seen Jim, or either of the vehicles, please let us know! Thanks very much.