Terrified taxi drivers are to hold crisis talks with Police after a 60-year-old man yesterday became the third cabbie to be robbed in the last few days.

Taxi Federation spokesman Joe Brown said that officials from the Ministry of Transport should also be present at the meeting.

He was speaking after cabbie Belltin Bailey was robbed on Spice Hill Road, Warwick, yesterday afternoon.

Mr. Brown said: "It's becoming horrendous. This happened in broad daylight.

Things are getting out of hand.'' Mr. Brown told The Royal Gazette the time had come for the federation to sit down with taxi drivers, Police and transportation officials to discuss the situation.

In one of the worst incidents, a 49-year-old cabbie was stabbed in the neck at the end of August after picking up two men on Victoria Street.

The driver, who was helped by a passing motorists, was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he received stitches. He was only released from hospital a few days ago.

Mr. Brown said he hoped someone from the Transportation Department would attend Monday night's meeting at the Chamber of Commerce. He said: "Presently it's against the law for drivers to refuse to carry a passenger. But there are some circumstances where we can refuse certain passengers and we want that clarified.'' Mr. Brown added that the federation was trying to avoid the big-city approach where taxi drivers refuse to work certain areas and refuse passengers they felt were a risk.

But he warned: "What's going to happen soon is that taxi drivers are not going to drive to certain areas. That's not the Bermudian way. This is supposed to be the most tranquil place on earth.'' And he added that he believed that drugs played a part in the recent wave of attacks on taxi drivers.

CRIME CRM