| abstract
| - In 2000, Vikram Desai and Steve McDonald went into partnership to create the mini cab firm which opened for business on 1st May. Both had to borrow money for their investments, Vik from cousin Dev Alahan and Steve from Jez Quigley. Steve's loan caused them both grief as nightclub owner Jez made Steve deliver drugs for him, and made it clear that he had no choice in the matter. To get rid of Jez, Steve testified against him for the murder of Tony Horrocks, but he was found not guilty. The ordeal ended with Jez's death at the hands of Steve's dad Jim after Jez had Steve beaten up for shopping him to the police. Business was good for Street Cars, especially in the local area, though the bosses were almost always short of drivers. By a stroke of luck, Eileen Grimshaw came to work at Street Cars as radio operator when Vik picked her up in his cab and was impressed with her detailed knowledge of the area. In 2002, Street Cars was investigated by the Taxi Licencing Enforcement Team who had received complaints of sexual harassment on part of a driver. Vik's affair with married Hazel Wilding put him under fire from her husband, but his ex-girlfriend Bobbi Lewis admitted she had filed the complaint to get back at him. Vik was involved in drug smuggling in December and hid cocaine inside Karen McDonald's suitcase when she went to Tenerife with Steve. When Steve found out he emptied the drugs into the canal. Vik left Weatherfield leaving Street Cars in debt because of his gambling. Dev Alahan bought Vik's share of the business, but preferred to be a silent partner, leaving Steve to run it. In 2005 he sold his share to Lloyd Mullaney for £15,000. Later that year, Steve took on Ronnie Clayton as a driver. Ronnie used to work for rival Connect Cabs and was married to its owner Jimmy Clayton. Jimmy was determined to lure Ronnie back to him by any means, including making bogus call-outs to Street Cars, trying to hurt its business. Perhaps unwisely, Steve started dating Ronnie. Things reached a head when Ronnie and Steve were lured to the deserted Wildclough Farm and held at gunpoint by Jimmy. Lloyd came to their rescue. In 2006, Ronnie was involved in a hit and run while on a call-out. The victim, an elderly man, died from his injuries, but Ronnie put herself in the clear when the same car received a speeding ticket and Steve shouldered the blame. He unwittingly took the fall for the hit and run when fibres matching the victim were found on the car. On the night in question, Steve was sleeping with Lloyd's girlfriend Kelly Crabtree, and her confession to the police let Steve off the hook and Ronnie was arrested. However, Lloyd, betrayed by his friend and girlfriend, refused to work with Steve, and Street Cars closed down while Steve's minicab licence was up for renewal. The drivers worried about their jobs as Steve and Lloyd both entertained ideas about setting up their own (rival) cab firms in the local area. It took Steve's mum Liz to make them see sense - that Street Cars was fine the way it was and they should agree to disagree. When Street Cars re-opened its doors, Lloyd was the new licencee, but things were more or less back to normal.
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