Taxi marshal service extends offering to make Northampton nights out safer

West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) taxi marshal service will be extending its offering to cover additional busy weekends and continue keeping people safe on nights out in Northampton.

As well as the usual weekends that coincide with most people's pay days, the service will cover extra dates expected to be busy during special events and holidays, including A Perfect Day Festival, Northampton Pride and Ibiza fest.

The service, which launched in December to help people travel more safely during peak Night Time Economy (NTE) periods, sees marshals positioned at the taxi rank on Mercer’s Row in Northampton between 11pm and 5am on Friday and Saturday nights during pay weekends, bank holiday weekends and other busy periods.

The marshals are responsible for making sure lone females, vulnerable people and those accompanied by children are safely supervised when using taxis as well as addressing any conflicts arising on the taxi rank and reporting any incidents to the Licensing Authority and Northamptonshire Police.

The pilot scheme will run until September 2025 with the possibility to extend and has been funded using Safer Streets 5 funding led by the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) and delivered by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).

View the full taxi marshal schedule on the WNC website.

“So far, this innovative pilot has proved fantastic in helping us to improve the Night Time Economy in West Northamptonshire and make Northampton town centre a safer and more welcoming place to enjoy a night out.

“I am pleased the service will be operating on even more dates and improving the safety of women, girls, and vulnerable people during peak Night Time Economy weekends alongside our other Safer Nights Out initiatives to make going out more enjoyable for everyone.”Cllr David Smith, Cabinet member for Planning and Communities

Other projects and improvements in the Night Time Economy funded via Safer Streets funding include taxi rank lighting upgrades, additional CCTV cameras and Safer Night’s Out routes and help points. In addition to this, Northants Police also staff permanent Operations around predatory behaviour in the town centre.