'People think Muslim ladies can't drive a car'

A mum-of-five who says she is a town's only female Muslim taxi driver wants to encourage more women into the profession.

There are more than 362,000 licensed taxi and private hire drivers in England but women make up just 2% of that figure, according to the Department for Transport.

Shelly Ullah works in Corby, Northamptonshire, and fits the job around picking up her children from school and going shopping.

She says she has received many remarks from passengers who are surprised to see her in the driver's seat, in a town that has a small Muslim population.

"Men will come in and be like, 'All right mate?' and then they'll be like, 'I'm so sorry, I didn't realise you were a woman'. I say, 'Don't worry, it's all right!'.

"Some people have actually said, 'But I thought Muslim ladies couldn't drive a car?'. They think we're at home, cooking. So I want to show them that no we're not, we can do what we want."