The boss of a Douglas-based taxi firm has criticised the public transport access route to the airport as not being safe for passengers.

John Faragher, managing director of Elegance Taxis, made the comments after a bus collided with a taxi door at the airport, with both vehicles sustaining damage.

The crash happened on Sunday evening at about 6pm involving an Elegance taxi which was on the rank outside the airport and a double decker bus operating the number 12 route south from Douglas.

The driver’s door on the car has penetrated the lower windscreen on the left hand side of the bus and been bent out of shape.

An Isle of Man Transport spokesman confirmed no one was injured in the crash.

He said: ’A number 12 bus was involved in an incident with a taxi at the airport at 6pm on Sunday, June 2.

’Nobody was injured and a replacement bus was provided to allow the passengers to continue their journey.’

However, Mr Faragher told the Manx Independent it is not the first incident on the road outside the airport involving a bus and a taxi.

He said: ’The taxi rank and the road adjacent to it is an accident waiting to happen. We have buses, single decker and double decker, arriving every 15 minutes. Both lanes are very narrow and there is only a few feet spare on one side.

’A taxi driver and a customer at the airport rank should be able to open the door within safety and have enough space to do so.’

Mr Faragher also detailed an incident he was involved in where a customer failed to check the road was clear before opening the passenger door of his taxi and suffered injuries as a result.

The taxi driver involved is a radio renter with Elegance Taxis and said he didn’t wish to speak on the matter when we contacted him.