3 held after cab driver robbed at knifepoint

An officer remained on the scene while the majority of police left. Picture: Toby Williams

A 38-year-old private hire driver has been robbed and assaulted at knifepoint after dropping off his city centre fare.

The man, who works for Edinburgh City Private Hire, was taken to hospital this morning but has since been released.

Police in Edinburgh were called to Moat Terrace at around 4.45am this morning following the assault and robbery of a driver who had picked up a fare from the city centre.

He was threatened with a knife and received a facial injury after being punched.

However, it is understood he received no injuries from the knife during the incident.

Three men were detained at the scene and police are continuing to carry out enquiries to establish the circumstances.

Police were today standing guard on the first floor of number ten, a tenement block and were interviewing residents in the block.

Witnesses said there were around 16 police vehicles, including riot vans, lined up on Slateford Road and that Moat terrace had been sealed off.

The owner of a nearby corner shop said the police had been there in large numbers at 5.45am when he opened for business.

A woman who lives on the street said she had been woken up by loud knocking on someone else’s doors and heard “arguing” at around 4am.

Joe Duffy, 65, who lives in a nearby flat, was woken by a commotion outside .

He said: “I heard plenty of noise and there were loads of police outside on the street.

There was a large police presence on Slateford Road. Picture: Karen Johnston

“There was a lot of shouting.”

A neighbour said the street was generally “very quiet” with a lot of elderly residents and he had seen very little trouble.

Kevin Woodburn, director of Edinburgh Private Hire, confirmed that the driver worked for his firm and had contacted headquarters this morning to tell them what had happened.

He added: “It would appear that it was not as serious an injury as was first thought.

“The driver was taken to hospital and has since been released.”