Top Police Chief Embarrassed

Scotland Yard's Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, who is the head of Britain's counter-terrorism policing, had a luxury car rental firm running from his home address despite not having the proper licences.
An inquiry was undertaken by Tandridge District Council in Surrey after it emerged that the company, run by the commissioner’s wife Judith, was offering chauffeur-driven outings as well as a wedding car rental service.
To offer the outings the owners would be required to obtain a private hire vehicle and operator's licence and its drivers would also need to be licensed but to date this had not happened.



Richard Woodward, director of community services at Tandridge District Council, said the car rental company has now stopped offering non-wedding services.

He said: "We have held discussions with the owners, who have given assurances they are currently providing a car rental service for weddings only.

"This type of car rental service does not require local authority licensing and the car rental company has stopped offering any other services.

"The car rental company is considering what other services it may want to provide in the future, but will discuss these with the council to ensure they comply with all licensing requirements."
The inquiry originally led to an outburst from Assistant Commissioner Quick who stated that the allegations had only emerged because he had handled the arrest of Kent Tory MP Damien Green in November. This incident happened following alleged leaks of information coming from the British parliament.

Assistant Commissioner Quick then accused the Conservative Party of trying to undermine him but later apologised for those remarks. He also got upset after an article in a national newspaper had drawn attention to his wife’s car hire business.

It was furthermore claimed that security concerns arose over the car hire firm's website as it included Mr Quick's home address, while the Commissioner admitted that he had had to move his family as a result of the publicity.
The website has since been changed and no action will be taken by the council against the car hire company.
No-one at the car hire firm was available to comment and the Metropolitan Police has referred all inquiries to the car hire company.