Taxi drivers whose protest caused severe traffic delays in Central may be prosecuted, police warned yesterday, after angry callers to a radio phone-in criticised officers' handling of the incident.
One caller to the RTHK programme said police had been too 'soft on the [taxi] mob'.
'We have collected evidence and we don't rule out the possibility of prosecuting [the drivers] or taking appropriate actions,' said Chief Superintendent Choi Wong Fung-yee, of the police public relations branch. But she did not say what charges might be laid.
No arrests were made, but Mrs Choi said police had warned the protesters, who at one point blocked all four lanes of Garden Road, that they were committing an offence.
A radio caller who works in Central said the police were useless for allowing such 'mobs' to block traffic without making any arrests. Another said the demonstration had damaged Hong Kong's image as a civilised city.
Taxi drivers are upset over what they claim is a failure by the police to crack down on unlicensed taxis - which they say are undermining their livelihoods - and rising fuel prices.