An actress has told how a minicab driver took her wheelchair away after an argument outside a London train station.
Bafta nominee Ruth Madeley, whose credits include the BBC One drama Years and Years, said the driver refused to drop her outside Euston station’s accessible entrance because heavy traffic made it “too difficult” and it would “take too long”.
Media reports said Madeley’s mother had to intervene as the driver tried to place the wheelchair in the boot of his car.
Madeley, who comes from Bolton, has spina bifida. She said the driver told her he had seen her stand up and “knew I could walk” before demanding the fare, despite the journey being prepaid.
She added that during the dispute he took her wheelchair, put it in the boot of his car and refused to give it back.
The media reported that Madeley wrote on Instagram: “When I tried explaining this on the street, he became very agitated &, in sheer frustration, HE TOOK MY WHEELCHAIR from behind me without warning & carried it away to put in the boot of his taxi, leaving me on the side of the road. When I asked for it back, he refused.”
She added that her mother was able to recover the chair from the driver, “although he tried his best to stop her”.
Responding to the media, Transport for London described the incident as “utterly appalling” and said it would investigate.
Graham Robinson, TfL’s general manager for taxi and private hire, said in a statement: “This sounds like an utterly appalling incident. We have contacted Ruth for more details so we can carry out a full and urgent investigation.”
Madeley told journalists she had reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police but was told it was not a “hate crime”.
She said: “I was shut down and made to feel as though I was making a fuss over nothing.”
