THE granddaughter of a 98-year-old has heaped praise on a taxi firm after her mother was left 'stranded' by another firm on Sunday following her first leisurely trip out in more than 12 months

Margaret Arnold was enjoying her first trip out with her daughter for a year as they enjoyed afternoon tea at Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden.

Margaret - a Cheshire Grange Care Home resident in Lymm - is completely reliant on a wheelchair and requires a specialised disabled minibus.

The first firm had picked them up fine, dropped them at the garden, daughter Linzi Davies paid the person then said they would only be an hour.

As this taxi driver took another job elsewhere, they offered Margaret a car that could not carry her due to the wheelchair.

So, they turned to Lloyd Evans of Amber Cars, Taxi’s and Minibuses in Knutsford, who took on the job while planning a family-related order of service on his only day off.

Margaret Arnold during her afternoon tea with her grandaughter Linzi Davies

Margaret Arnold during her afternoon tea with her grandaughter Linzi Davies

“My nan could obviously pick up what was going on and I didn’t want her panicking. It was just awful really. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for Lloyd,” said granddaughter Linzi.

“In my mind, I was starting to think I was going to have to ring an ambulance to get her back, I was completely stuck.

“She’s 98 so she’s incredibly frail, she’d had a fantastic time out after all that time, it could have been a complete disaster.”

Lloyd made his way to them within minutes of the call and helped get her grandma back safely.

Linzi continued: “I couldn’t believe it. It was dead emotional really and it was lovely.

“To be so kind and do that, you’ve seen the comments on Facebook, Lloyd is obviously known for it.

“He was just so lovely with her. It was beyond paying someone to a job in my mind.”

Lloyd has been doing this for 30 years, so while he appreciates the messages, he feels he is just doing his job.

“You can’t leave someone stranded with a 98-year-old woman, she was such a sweet lady and I just wanted to make sure she was safe,” said Lloyd.

“I do a service and the service was that she was stuck. I think it’s absolutely disgusting, you just don’t leave them. Local little taxi companies, we do care.

“You can’t treat old people as fodder, they’re not fodder, they’re human beings who’ve had a life, they need assistance.

Lloyd added: “The comments make me feel better but to be honest, I’m doing my job.

“That’s how I treat people with respect because I care about people. You give them a service like they’ve given us service all their lives.

“After a loss of staff due to Covid and we only have one wheelchair bus, we need more staff with the qualifications and cars to be able to keep helping the older generation.”