A BLIND woman claims she was forced to walk along a busy dual carriageway after two St Albans taxi firms refused to take her and her guide dog in their cars.

Mrs Pauline Evans, who is dependent on her guide dog Mat, and her friend Mrs Wendy Churchill, who has impaired vision, were on their way to Burstons Rose and Garden Centre in St Albans on Wednesday, June 26, on an outing arranged by Watford Blind Centre.

The pair who both live in Borehamwood got a bus to Park Street and walked to a garage where they tried to order a taxi to take them the rest of the way. They claim the garage attendant called City Cars and Arena Taxis and that both firms refused to pick them up.

Mrs Evans, 54, said: "I was pretty annoyed because they didn't really give us any reason for not taking us.

"These dogs have been trained to go under the dashboard. They are never any trouble.

"It was very frightening for me walking on very strange ground. I was very upset at the time," she said.

"I was crying because I was so frightened and scared."

Mrs Churchill, 58, said: "Apparently one firm said they didn't have a suitable black cab. Pauline was very upset by the whole thing.

"What people don't realise is how important these outings are for us. They're a major part of our life."

Undeterred, the women decided to find the garden centre on foot and made their way onto the North Orbital Road.

After an hour traipsing back and forth along the busy stretch, the women arrived exhausted at the garden centre.

Mrs Churchill said: "It was a total nightmare, the traffic was travelling so fast and was so loud. I was absolutely shattered by the time we got there.

"We have to be able to find our way to places to be part of things.

"But if taxi drivers are going to let us down we're not going to be able to keep our independence."

Mr Mick Ball, secretary of St Albans Taxi Association, said it was illegal for a taxi driver to refuse a person with a guide dog a ride.

He said that if the companies had refused to take them then they were totally out of order.

He added that similar cases had been reported to the Hackney Carriage Office.

Mr Ilyas Khan, owner of Arena Taxis, said it had always been the firm's policy to take guide dogs and that he would report any drivers who refused to take a guide dog to the council.

A spokesman from City Cars said the firm would not have refused the women and their dog a ride and always took passengers with guide dogs.

July 4, 2002 09:30