ASA Adjudication on Speedline Taxi Ltd

Ad

A regional press ad, for Speedline Taxis, was headed "SPEEDLINE TAXI. Milton Keyne's [sic] Premier Taxi Company". Below, text stated "SPEEDLINE TAXIS are based in Milton Keynes and offer a professional and reliable Taxi Service from Milton Keynes & Surrounding areas to all UK Airports and Seaports ...".

Issue

Raffles Private Hire Ltd believed the claims were misleading because they understood Speedline Taxis were licensed by South Northamptonshire Council and operated from premises outside Milton Keynes.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Speedline Taxi Ltd (Speedline) confirmed that South Northamptonshire Council licensed them but said they were based in Old Stratford, which was in the Milton Keynes area.  They argued that their postcode, MK19, confirmed this and therefore believed that they were entitled to claim that they were based in Milton Keynes.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that Old Stratford was situated close to the borders of Milton Keynes but noted the village was administered by South Northamptonshire Council and not by Milton Keynes Council.  We noted the postcode, which we understood was a quirk of the postcode system, but concluded that, because Speedline were based in Old Stratford and licensed by, and paid their taxes to, South Northamptonshire Council, the claims "SPEEDLINE TAXIS are based in Milton Keynes ..." and "Milton Keynes [sic] Premier Taxi Company" were misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Comparisons).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)