Wiltshire Council has apologised for delays in repainting the taxi rank markings on Castle Street and set a date to amend the road.

Three weeks ago, the road on Castle Street was resurfaced, and the road markings which mark where the taxi rank was situated had been incorrectly replaced.

Double yellow lines had replaced three cars of space in the rank, meaning that currently, no more than two taxis will legally be able to park there at one time.

Initially, councillor Richard Clewer said: “We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and have asked our contractors to return and correct this as soon as possible.”

READ MORE: Taxi driver frustrated with Castle Street's incorrect resurfacing

Three weeks later, in a statement on Monday, June 18, cabinet Member for highways cllr Nick Holder said: “We apologise for the delay in repainting the taxi rank markings in Castle Street. The road markings weren’t put back correctly after the road was resurfaced.

"Our contractors will be returning to repaint the road markings on Thursday evening.”

When he first discovered the mistake, Salisbury taxi driver Giles Harries said the error was “absolutely ridiculous". 

Giles HarriesGiles Harries (Image: Newsquest)

The 59-year-old has been a taxi driver for 19 years, and uses the taxi rank, which is located outside Tesco, every working day.

In response to the council's latest statement, he said: “It’s nice when someone puts their hands up but it’s a poor apology when it’s not important enough to be dealt with when it needs to be dealt with – quickly.

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"But, they're doing something - which is sending out the right message.

"This is not about us and them bickering, it's just that sometimes I think it's not as important to them perhaps as it should be given that we are providing a service."

The taxi rank only has room for two cars at presentThe taxi rank only has room for two cars at present (Image: Newsquest)

Given that the date for rectification has been set for Thursday, June 20, he added: "It's almost warming to see that what is very important to us is actually equally as important to the council."

Giles had also previously expressed his hope that traffic wardens in Salisbury would allow taxi drivers to park on the double yellows while the mistake was rectified.

He added: "The traffic wardens have been good as gold, telling us we're alright and it's not our fault."