The driver was parked outside a restaurant waiting for a fare (Picture: SWNS)

One cabbie is going to have to start driving all round the houses to cover these damages.

That is of course if he’s allowed behind the wheel again.

The driver was waiting for a fare outside a restaurant in Chedderton, Staffordshire, when the incident occurred.

We can only speculate as to why the vehicle suddenly burst forward and flew into the nearby Caldon canal, but something must have given him a real fright.


Perhaps an agonising cramp caused his foot to hit the gas? Maybe he’d just lost another fare to Uber and needed to cool down?

Whatever the cause, we can safely say that this was more about the destination than the journey.



Jamie Bateman, who owns the restaurant where the driver was parked, said, ‘it was dark on Friday but I just don’t know how the taxi driver managed to do it.’

‘It was like something from the Dukes of Hazzard or a Carry On Film,’ he added.

A quick thinking passerby jumped in the canal and pulled the driver from the vehicle before emergency services arrived.

Bateman gave him a cup of tea and a chance to dry off. The cabbie was shaken and wet – but ultimately unhurt.