As party revellers gear up for Christmas, Taxiwise - the campaign committed to the safe use of taxis - is warning:
“Please be careful when planning your journey home.”
The campaign has attracted high-profile support since being launched, with TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher the latest celebrity to champion the cause and highlight the potential dangers of getting into a bogus minicab.
The fight goes on in raising awareness over the danger of using illegal minicabs as the evenings get darker.
The Mayor of London has launched a hardhitting advertising campaign that warns women of the dangers of using illegal minicabs.
Whilst the awareness of the perils of bogus minicabs is starting to filter through, sadly the attacks still continue.
A teenager was picked up by a man posing as a cab driver, taken to a side road and brutally raped.
A bus driver who posed as a cabbie to prey on women who had been out drinking or were in distress faces years behind bars for sex assaults.
Pretending to be a taxi driver, Abdul Jhalal would cruise around the Clerkenwell area of London, picking up women then locking his doors and assaulting his victims. He was eventually caught by an undercover female police officer.
Licensing officers in Oldham are looking to ban any vehicle except purpose-built taxis from plying for trade in a bid to make the streets safer.
A spate of sex attacks this year in the Greater Manchester area involving bogus private hire cars prompted officials at Oldham council to look at the issue as a matter of urgency.
A woman was subjected to a terrifying rape ordeal after accepting a lift home following a night out in Manchester. The 22-year-old was waiting for a taxi in the early hours when she got into a blue convertible Peugeot 206.
The driver headed to a car park and he and his male passenger attacked her. After the attack, the victim got out of the car and was picked up by a black Hackney cab.
Students are one of the target groups at risk from getting into illegal minicabs. This is partly due to the fact that at Christmas time, there is a greater likelihood they will be travelling by taxi.
The tragic legacy of Sally Geeson, murdered by a bogus minicab driver 12 months ago, is still a stark reality in the minds of students at colleges and universities throughout the UK.
The following is reproduced following the kind permission of Company Magazine.
In the early hours of 1 January 2005, after celebrating the dawn of a new year, 22-year-old Sally Geeson was separated from her friends and got into an unlicensed cab.
Realising her mistake, she sent text messages to her friends begging for help. Tragically, the messages did not arrive in time and Sally was raped and strangled to death by the driver.