A TAXI driver has been fined for refusing to pick up a blind pensioner and her guide dog - because he had just cleaned his car.

Great grandmother Janet Plechaty ordered a cab to collect her from the taxi rank outside the Eastgate shopping centre, Basildon, after going shopping with her daughter.

Wayne Wilson, 45, turned up, but refused to let her into his taxi with her golden retriever.

It meant the pair had to wait in the pouring rain for another one.

Mrs Plechaty, 64, complained to Basildon Council's taxi licensing authority and Wilson was taken to court, where he was ordered to pay £175 in fines and costs.

Mrs Plechaty of Rayside, Basildon, said: "I couldn't believe it.

"He told me sorry I can't take him, because I've just cleaned my car'. He ordered me another taxi, but I had to wait for it in the rain.

"I wouldn't have got any satisfaction if he had lost his job, but he couldn't have engaged his brain that day. Blind and partially sighted people shouldn't have to put up with that sort of thing.

"My dog is a lot cleaner than some humans who get in taxis."

Father-of-four Wilson, of Peterborough Way, Basildon, was prosecuted by the taxi licensing authority.

He pleaded guilty during a hearing at Basildon Magistrates' Court.

He was fined £60 and ordered to pay £100 costs and £15 to the court's victim support fund.

Mrs Plechaty, who has no sight in her right eye and tunnel vision in her left, is registered blind.

Wilson, who drives his taxi in Basildon, said: "I would like to apologise to her. It was a spur of the moment decision that I have regretted since and I'm just glad it's all over now.

"I have an allergy to dogs, so having one in the car makes my eyes stream like hay fever."

Phil Easteal, manager of Environmental Health at Basildon Council, said: "Disabled residents rely on taxis and minicabs to maintain their independence.

"It is illegal, under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, for drivers to refuse to carry guide dogs."

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