Guide dog test for taxi drivers

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 9th Oct 2007

Guide dogs have been taking the lead in showing taxi drivers how to better care for passengers with disabilities.

The dogs, from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, are part of a new course for drivers in Leamington Spa, Warwick and Kenilworth.

The association and Warwick District Council have put together the three-hour course which covers sight and physical disabilities. All new drivers in Warwick district have to attend the course.

Anne Mellor, chairman of the council's regulatory committee, said: "The course costs the drivers £30, but the benefits to their passengers are enormous. "Just knowing how to help a blind or wheelchair bound passenger to access their vehicle correctly is a basic requirement of the service we oversee."