TOP talks will be held over the safety of a stretch of road in Southampton city centre where a taxi driver was crushed between his car and a bus.

Martin Carter suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a single decker bus outside Asda in Portland Terrace.

The 52-year-old father-of-four is today said to be in a “stable condition” in Southampton General Hospital after last night being put into an induced coma when his injuries were previously said to be “life threatening”.

Now taxi bosses have demanded a meeting with Southampton City Council chiefs saying they have been campaigning for years for changes at the stretch of road they say was “a disaster waiting to happen”.

It comes as police and the bus company Bluestar continue their investigations into what happened there and officers make a fresh appeal for witnesses to come forward.

As previously reported the private hire driver got out of his silver Vauxhall Vivaro to pick up passengers close to a bus stop outside the store at 11.30am on Tuesday.

The Radio Taxis employee is believed to have just finished putting his passengers’ shopping in the boot and was alongside his taxi when he was struck.

The impact crushed him between both vehicles – causing him to suffer severe chest injuries including broken ribs, punctured lungs and severe arm injuries.

The area is next to a taxi rank but private hire drivers are banned from it because it is reserved for hackney cab drivers waiting for fares.

It means private hires picking up pre-booked cabs ordered by shoppers from a phone inside the store have to pull in close to the bus stop to collect people.

Friend and colleague, Clive Johnson, who is chairman of both Radio Taxis and Southampton Trade Association said buses regularly scrape taxis stopping there or honk their horns at them.

He said: “We have been dealing with the council for years about this stretch of road. It is a disaster waiting to happen. We’ve been asking for a bay to be built as there is nowhere to pick up people safely. There’s been a number of incidents with buses hitting cars and now this. This could have been a customer that got hurt or a child been injured.”

Radio Taxi’s director Perry MacMillan, of the Unite Union, who has been campaigning for 18 years for changes and said: “It’s such a tragedy that it has taken something like this to highlight how dangerous it is. I’m calling on the city planners to get together with us and Asda and provide a safe place for taxis to pick people up.”

Council leader Councillor Simon Letts said he is arranging a meeting with the taxi drivers and other parties.

He said there should be a code of conduct so bus drivers and taxis operate in the area safely but warned that creating an extra bay would be unsuitable with large volumes of pedestrians using the pavement.

He suggested taxi drivers pick up people at the back of the store and said: “There is no easy solution. “But a man was in a dangerous accident just before Christmas and we need to have an adult conversation about the best thing to do.”

Offering his sympathies to Mr Carter’s family he added: “I wish him a speedy recovery and we will do all we can.”