A TAXI driver suspended from driving by Teignbridge Council Regulatory and Appeals Committee on Monday, after being granted a licence in error, has appealed against the decision.

Solicitors acting for 20-year-old Wesley Westaway made the application on Tuesday and the matter will go to the magistrates' court at a later date.

The appeal allows Mr Westaway to continue driving until the appeal is heard.

Mr Westaway, who drives for Newton Abbot-based Teignbridge Taxis, was granted the licence in January. The error came to light in April that he was aged 20, but the district authority's age limit regulation is 21 or over.

He continued to drive until Monday when the committee suspended his licence until his 21st birthday on November 7.

Cllr Mike Walters said that on balance the committee had decided to suspend the licence until Mr Westaway reached the age of 21, and in the interests of public safety to keep the age limit.

Chris Shaw, director of Teignbridge Taxis, said: 'The one person who is not to blame in all this is Wes (Mr Westaway). I was not aware you had to be 21. I thought you had to be driving a year. I sent it in and it was missed.'

John Partridge, secretary of the Teignbridge Hackney and Private Hire Association, said the association and the trade generally were shocked that this had happened and were unhappy about the situation.

'This blows my mind that so many forms were filled out and this was not picked up. I am surprised that a director running such a company was not aware of this,' he said.

Mr Shaw replied that it was not Wes's fault. 'He has invested in a car as part of Teignbridge Taxis.

'The reason I made a mistake was that my girlfriend put in for her licence. She is 26 and she had to wait a year,' he said.

Association member Kevin Wyatt reminded the committee: 'Ignorance is not an excuse.'

Senior licensing officer Andrea Furness said stringent checks were carried out for taxi drivers and when going through application forms not only did the licensing officer check the details, but it was double checked by another.

'We all missed this one. It was a genuine error,' she said.

After the hearing a spokesman for Teignbridge Council said: 'Regrettably, there was an administrative error in the granting of Mr Westaway's licence while under the age of 21, however, the committee upheld the lower age limit requirement.

'In this particular case, while Mr Westaway's conduct or driving ability is not in question, it was felt that it was in the interests of public safety to retain the current policy as drivers under 21 are less experienced, and have a statistically higher accident rate.

'Additionally, we have amended our internal procedures to reflect the upheld policy, which should prevent this situation from occurring again.'

In another application, the manager of Bovey Castle, near Moretonhampstead, Frederico Aresti, applied for a private hire driver's licence on behalf of 19-year-old Dennis Howarth.

'It is not for long journeys. We are talking about short journeys for some of the guests from Bovey Castle to Moretonhampstead,' he said.

The application was refused.