VISITORS to Somerset’s national park could soon travel in style after councillors agreed to a change in licensing policy.

Exmoor Trike Tours aims to launch in April, offering passengers tours of the Exmoor National Park, from the coast near Porlock to the Tarr Steps near Dulverton and everywhere in between.

The tours will be carried out on motorised trikes, with prices starting from £150 for two people for a two-hour coastal tour and rising to £300 for a longer trip which includes a picnic.

To enable this to happen, Somerset West and Taunton Council has voted to change its licensing policies, allowing the vehicles to be subject to the same conditions and rigorous checks as local taxis or Hackney carriages.

The trikes being used for the tours are purpose-built with similar controls to a car (except for handlebars instead of a steering wheel), with the driver sitting in front and up to two passengers being carried at any one time.

Such vehicles are already in operation for similar tours in Buckinghamshire, the Midlands, Scotland and Yorkshire – but they are not currently licensed in the Somerset West and Taunton area.

Three-wheeled vehicles do not meet the council’s criteria for licensed taxis – which haven’t been updated since the council was created in 2019, abolishing Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council.

The council’s licensing committee discussed the issue at length when it convened in Taunton on Monday evening (March 21).

Councillor Keith Wheatley said: “Have the restrictions on age and height been taken from a wider code of practice adopted by other authorities – and if not, where have they come from?

“At theme parks, there is a height restriction on any exciting ride to make sure the safety restraints will hold a wriggling young person.

“I’m not so sure that I’ve seen age restrictions combined with height, because it seems to be about physicality.”

All trike passengers will have to wear seatbelts and safety helmets, with Exmoor Trike Tours providing protective clothing in wet weather.

No passengers under 1.65 metres will be allowed, and there will be a first aid kit and fire extinguisher on board in case of emergencies.

Normally under-14s will not be permitted to ride, but the committee agreed that a “motorbike-mad” 11- or 12-year-old should be allowed to ride if they met the height restrictions and were accompanied by an adult.

Councillor Brenda Weston raised concerns about how well the vehicles would fare on the narrow rural roads in and around Exmoor.

She said: “These are quite low vehicles, so I’m wondering about the visibility of them and whether they are in fact safe in this part of the world.

“I also wonder about the trikes going onto the hills where people can view the livestock, horses and deer –  I wonder what the owners of those horses would feel about that.”

Brad Fear, the council’s licensing officer, replied: “These are classed as road-worthy vehicles, but I can see your point about the back roads and the hills.

“I don’t believe the company’s intention is to go fully off-road with these vehicles – they’re not built for that. The onus would be on the driver to drive as safely as anyone could.”

The committee voted to approve the policy changes, with one abstention. For more information on the trikes, visit www.exmoortriketours.co.uk.