A teen has claimed a Delta taxi driver called him "fat" after finding out he wanted to be dropped off five minutes away.
Karl Robotham, 17, from Anfield, called for a Delta Taxi driver at 6.15am after going to his friends house for a party. The teen said he usually uses the private hire firm or Alpha depending on which one has availability.
Once the taxi driver arrived at the teen's location Karl said he was asked where he wanted to be taken. But when he said he wanted to be dropped off on a road 0.8 miles away - approximately 15 minutes on foot - Karl says that's when issues started.
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He told The ECHO: "I was at a party the night before, I wasn't drinking because I'm 17, but was really tired and called a taxi to take me home. He asked where my destination was and he said 'that's only round the corner just cancelled a town job for this' and I told him don't to speak to me like that.
"I explained to the driver I was in a friend's house for the evening and wanted to go home and he said 'you fat c**t, could've walked would've been quicker. I felt really uncomfortable'."
The teen reportedly asked the driver to pull over so he could get out of the car and walk back to his friend's house.
He said: "He asked me for £3.40 for driving round the corner and shouting at me in the street. I was going to pay but then he said it is fine and he sped off down the road and beeped at me.
"I felt so uncomfortable. It was just me and him in the vehicle. I haven't been in a taxi since because I don't feel ready yet."
After getting out the taxi he put in a formal complaint with Delta over email. The company has since responded to say they spoke to the driver involved, who denies the incident happened.
The email, read by The ECHO said: "Your complaint has been addressed with the driver concerned who has firmly denied the allegations made - he has said he would never verbally abuse a customer and said he did not complain to you about the distance of the journey - although he has confirmed that he did not charge you for the fare.
"I appreciate that this differs from what you have said in your email. The driver has been asked where the complaint would have come from if he had not made any such comments towards you but he could not explain this, maintaining that the allegations that have been made are false.
"He has been told that obviously the conduct that has been described is not at all what we expect from any licensed private hire drivers taking our bookings."
The email went on to add the complaint would be permanently logged on the driver's record and told him if he would like to escalate the complaint he could speak to Sefton Council.
Delta Taxi's did not respond to The ECHO's requests for a comment.
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