Newcastle's taxis to be rebranded in black and white

Newcastle City Council argues it will reduce the risk of bogus taxis preying on vulnerable women

A controversial plan to rebrand Newcastle's taxis in a black and white livery has been approved.

Newcastle City Council said making the bonnets of all black cabs white would reduce the risk of bogus taxi drivers preying on vulnerable women.

The decision was delayed following criticism from drivers who said it was a "waste of taxpayer money".

The council is expected to give £100 grants to each of the city's 597 licenced Hackney Carriage drivers.

It decided on the plans, which have been supported by the city's street pastors and other organisations, at a full council meeting on Wednesday.

Councillors heard arguments from opposition councillors and taxi drivers, who had previously said the plans should be scrapped.

Drivers previously staged a protest in response to the scheme

Taxi driver Zulfi Youssaf told the meeting that he feared the scheme, which matches the colours of Newcastle United, could attract abuse when travelling out of the city.

He said: "As a cab driver I go to Sunderland every day, I will get racial abuse and my vehicle will be damaged by away supporters because of the black and white bonnets."

Newcastle's opposition Liberal Democrat leader Colin Ferguson accused the council of not listening to drivers' objections, highlighting the plans had been unchanged despite previous concerns.

'Public safety'

Labour councillor Paula Maines said that such vehicles already carried Newcastle's markings, which would present "no greater risk than currently of hate crime towards drivers and their vehicles".

Ms Maines, cabinet member responsible for taxi licensing, said it was "aware of the acute public safety issues that needed to be addressed with a young, lone, vulnerable woman subject to assault having been picked up in a private car falsely operating as a taxi".

Police made 80 interventions during an eight-week operation investigating unlicensed vehicles targeting vulnerable people in the city centre over recent months, safeguarding 34 potential victims as a result, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Addressing concerns over the longevity of the bonnet wraps, she said she expected them to be "durable" but the council would not fund replacements.

The new rules - which also include red council crests on front doors and taxi signs that are white at the front and red at the rear - will only apply to Hackney Carriages and not private hire companies which operate pre-arranged bookings.