Tributes paid after death of Sohan Singh, thought to have been Bradford's first licensed private hire driver

Sohan Singh, 71, of Bierley, died on Monday, May 21, after suffering liver cancer.

Before his diagnosis in June last year, Mr Singh worked at Local Cars in Wibsey until he retired six months ago and the firm has paid a heartfelt tribute to him.

Kaz Shehzad, 34, who runs Local Cars, said when licensing for private hire vehicles came in, Mr Singh got the ‘number one’ cab plate, marking it as the first registered licence.

He said: “It was something he was very proud of. He was a very proud taxi driver.

“There’s a lot of people that know him, he was a very, very helpful driver.”

Mr Singh came to the UK in the early 1970s at the age of 20 and worked in textiles before he became a cab driver.

He worked at Manchester Road/Marshfield Taxis before moving to Local Cars.

Mr Shehzad said he had never received any complaints about Mr Singh and people used to ring and ask specifically for him.

“He used to help people,” he said. “He was such a nice person.”

Local Cars wrote on Facebook: “Sohan was the FIRST taxi driver in Bradford and he led by example in this industry as well as being an upstanding member of the local community.

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“He was our first employee at Local Cars 25 years ago and was passionate about making sure all of our customers got the service they expected.

“He was punctual, trustworthy, helpful, polite and a pleasure to work alongside.

“Sohan will be sadly missed by family, friends, customers and the local community and he will always have a place in our hearts.”

Many have added their own tributes. One person wrote: “He was such a nice person will be greatly missed gone but never forgotten RIP.”

And another person added: “What a lovely man missed by everyone.”

He is survived by his wife Balwinder, three children and three grandchildren. His funeral will be held on Wednesday, May 30, at 10.10am at Scholemoor Cemetery.