Mr RedHot Rescue stung by undercover hen party

A dodgy limo driver was taken off the road after a sting operation by council workers posing as a rowdy hen party.

Eleven female workers donned party outfits and reindeer hats, and sipped champagne as they monitored the every move of chauffeur Darryl Williams.

The group giggled with the 36-year-old and danced on the back of his novelty fire engine as an unmarked police car tailed behind.

In the picture, taken during the festive season, the workers were decked out in colourful tinsel and santa hats as they kept an eye on Williams.

The sting carried out on a Friday night and launched from a Wolverhampton pub was revealed today after Wolverhampton City Council released details of surveillance operations.

Williams, of Talbot Place, Bilston, was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay almost £9,000 after the sting found he was breaching safety, licensing and insurance laws.

The vehicle had unsafe rails and seating and insufficient anti-slip surfaces to stop passengers falling over, while Williams himself had neither a private hire or Public Service Vehicle Operators licence.

Peter Calvert, the council's trading standards manager, said: "Williams continually denied he was taking more than eight passengers at a time which is why we had to take these measures.

"The girls played their part well and Williams never had any suspicions.

"They sipped the drinks he gave them and let on they were higher than they actually were. It was the best way to catch someone who was essentially putting lives at risk by operating an illegal business."

The novelty fire engine was booked to take them from the Great Western pub in Wolverhampton to Birmingham's Broad Street on a date in December 2008 but police pulled Williams over in Wednesfield Road after gathering enough evidence.

He admitted 15 separate charges in October last year at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court. The businessman used to own RedHot Rescue and Oddball Limos.

The firms rented limos, former fire engines with dance floors and prison vans to hundreds of revellers, prom and party-goers across the region. As well as a novelty fire engine,

Williams had a party ambulance, which was launched in a blaze of glory in 2006. He transformed an old ambulance into a disco on wheels complete with neon lights, champagne bar, smoke and bubble machines.

It also included a floating syringe shocker bar where needle-free plastic syringes stored alcohol and a flat-screen TV. A Traffic Commissioner described the firms' owner as an "unreliable and untruthful rogue".

Chairman of the bench Alan Leo said at the hearing: "It was more luck than judgment that nothing serious ever happened on board these vehicles." Williams today told the Express & Star the council's behaviour had been "outrageous" but refused to comment further.

The sting was one of 120 surveillance operations carried out by Wolverhampton City Council over the last two years. Suspected benefit fraudsters, noisy neighbours and counterfeiters were all targeted using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Council surveillance was also used in the case of Steven Adams, described as the "controlling influence" over one of the biggest piracy scams in the West Midlands. Adams made more than £200,000 from producing and selling counterfeit goods.

The 40-year-old, of Loweswater Drive, Lower Gornal, was jailed for three years in 2008 after being caught dealing fake DVDs, software and console games during a computer fair at Wolverhampton Racecourse.

When jailed, the father-of-three boasted a four-bedroom house with hot tub, holiday home in Spain and fleet of luxury cars including a Range Rover, Porsche and BMW.

After a tip-off, trading standards officers watched his domestic and business address, monitored his dealings and covertly purchased goods from him. This led to three counterfeiting factories being raided.