One of the problems exercising the great and the good of Malvern a century ago was touting for business by two rival firms of cab drivers on Belle Vue Terrace.

Malvern Urban District Council, on hearing that Street Inspector Alfred Darke considered touting had become a public nuisance, summoned Messrs Trigg and Warner, the owners of the firms, to appear before them.

After hearing evidence that the competing carriage firms were sending men out on Belle Vue Terrace to solicit trade from passers-by, the council sternly warned the businessmen that this should stop, otherwise action would be taken against them.

The Malvern Gazette regarded the matter indulgently, saying that Warner and Trigg did not seem especially concerned by the council's rebuke.

"That keen competition exists between Messrs Trigg and Warner is a matter of common knowledge, and touting amongst their men is likely to continue so long as they have brakes and char-a-bancs for hire," the paper reported in its editorial column.

In fact it went further, saying that touting was harmless, even beneficial, and said the council might have spent its time more profitably talking about more weighty matters.

But the matter did not end there. On October 11, 1901, the Gazette reported that Street Inspector Darke had summoned Warner employee Thomas Baldwin for using obscene and insulting language.

The case, heard at the police-court, arose out of Darke's enforcement of the council's clampdown on touting.

Darke has witnessed an altercation between Baldwin and Trigg employee John Woods over a prospective customer.

Baldwin, it was said, told Woods: "I will tread your toes off and split your head open." The court found the offence proved and fined Baldwin 10s with 16s costs.

Baldwin retaliated by summoning Inspector Darke for using obscene and insulting language. But the court did not believe him and dismissed the case.

In a related case, drivers John Fryer and Charles King, employed by Warner and Trigg respectively, appeared in court charged with breach of the peace after another dispute over a customer degenerated into an actual fight. Both were bound over to keep the peace.