Arson attack on Telford taxi firms advertising truck

A Central Taxis banner truck was burnt out at Telford Town Centre and staff say it is the latest in a campaign of abuse.

They say previous attacks have seen their advertising vehicles, which feature a large triangular billboard, having their windows smashed and even rolled over.

Police believe the fire in the early hours of Sunday was started deliberately and are treating it as arson.

A member of the public raised the alarm when they saw flames and smoke billowing from the front of the truck parked near to the Holiday Inn.

The quick-thinking resident called the taxi's call centre to alert them to the fire and the fire brigade and police went to the scene.

Stewart Price, driver manager at Central Taxis Telford office said: "It was parked just off the Holiday Inn Island at Stirchley Avenue at Telford Town Centre where we leave it for advertising.

"A member of the public rang the call centre in the early hours saying it was on fire.

"It's completely gutted the inside it. It's not a vehicle we use for fares, it's purely for advertising but obviously it's taxed and MOT'd so we can take it to where we think it will be prominent.

"But It's not a drivable vehicle now and it would cost too much to claim on the insurance so we are going to have to tow it around to places we want to leave it, which is just going to cost us more time and money."

Mr Price said the arson attack followed previous acts of vandalism which led him to believe the company was being victimised.

"This isn't the first time our advertising vans been targeted," he said.

"We had one in Wellington which had its windows smashed and and one on Wolverhampton rolled over.

"It's annoying and frustrating. There's no need for it. We are a successful company just trying to provide a service for the community and people have to try and ruin it."

He said the truck was being made safe and would be repaired and would be back out advertising for the company soon.

Chris Ammonds spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "We had a report that between 2.50am and 3.10am on Sunday, May 11 an unknown offender has gone into the cabin area of the vehicle and somehow started a fire which caused substantial damage to the inside.

"We believe the fire was started deliberately and are treating it as arson."