Flytipping row was 'hate crime' says Doncaster cab firm as disupte escalates

City taxi firm Absolute Cabs has staunchly defended one of its drivers after a member of the public spotted the cabbie dumping wood in a quiet country lane earlier this month.

Bosses at the East Laith Gate firm went to extreme lengths to disprove the allegations, releasing details of the driver’s routes, calling up other passengers to testify on his behalf, driving out to the scene to film the area and saying that pieces of wood couldn’t have fitted in the cab due to their size.

Golfer Ian Evans confronted the cabbie – identified only by the firm as Driver 23 – after he says he spotted him throwing the wood into a ditch from the back of his cab in Holme Lane near Thornhurst Manor.

When challenged, the cabbie reportedly told Mr Evans: “The country’s a s*** hole anyway” before driving off.

Now Absolute Cabs say they have been ‘cleared’ of any wrongdoing by Doncaster Council – and accused the incident of being racially motivated.

In a statement shared on Facebook, a spokesman said: “DMBC Environmental Health Department have completed their independent investigation in to the alleged fly tipping offence by Driver 23 and have said the following.

“I am fully satisfied that [Driver 23] version of events are honest and truthful and Doncaster Council will not be taking any further action regarding this.”

“Our investigation that was also independent has now been concluded and we will not be taking any action ourselves against the driver.”

“It has been suggested that this maybe a hate crime due to a false allegation or simply an attempt to slur or generate a purposeful boycotting of Absolute Cabs.

“We are glad damages were limited to Facebook, Doncaster Free Press and didn’t reach national television.”

But Mr Evans and others have hit back against the firm.

One said: “How can this be a hate crime?

"I saw the original post and the poster did not mention anything to do with race or religion. It was just an accusation that had no video evidence and therefore was not proved.”

Mr Evans said: “Lies again – they said there were insufficient evidence and couldn’t 100% prove it was true or not.

"I know what I saw I know what he said - I have no reason nor would I lie to tarnish any person or business.

"What I saw was your driver fly tipping so put what you like on here – anything to save face!”

Absolute wwner Jaan Saqlain replied: “Surely DMBC believe driver 23 and we have this conformation on email, not our words,we stand with our honest, truthful driver 23.”

“I am sorry to say you are bull sh*****. Driver 23 is a respectful family person - I have never heard him swear in my life and I am 52 years old.

"What you saw was an innocent person parked up next to someone else’s fly tipped wood and accused him for something he never done wrong. We get quite a lot of racist complaint that’s why we have very sophisticated system to protect our drivers."

The firm also said that the driver had been looking for some wood for a home improvement project and had stopped to inspect the debris to see if it was suitable.

Pictures of the incident were widely shared on social media after Mr Evans confronted the driver of the Volkswagen.

But Absolute Cabs denied any wrongdoing, even posting a detailed graphic headed “this is the story” with timings, maps, routes, the speed the taxi was travelling and testimonies from customers in a vid to debunk the allegations.

Mr Evans, who was on his way home after playing golf at Thornhurst Manor said: “I was driving back towards the A19 when I spotted this car pulled up.

"As I drove past, he was taking stuff out and throwing it in the ditch.

"I said: ‘what are you doing, it’s out of order, you are flytipping’ and his exact words to me were: “The country’s a s*** hole anyway” and just carried on.

"Another driver behind me witnessed what was going on too. When I told the driver I was taking photos of him and that I would report him, he just carried on saying ‘do what you want’ before driving off.

"It is absolutely disgusting.

“When I called Absolute Cabs to complain, they were just defending him and saying there was no proof. I’m not randomly going to take photos of a man and plaster them all over Facebook for the sake of it.”