A TAXI firm in a crime hotspot today blamed the police and council for the rising violence they are trying to stop.

A spokesman for Silverline, based in Darwen Street, Blackburn, spoke out after a scheme to turn an area around his business into a 'giant taxi rank' to reduce disorder was revealed.

Police and council bosses believe that crime will be cut by whisking revellers away from town centre more quickly at the end of a night.

But the Silverline spokesman claimed the problems in Darwen Street had been caused by a failure to tackle rogue private hire vehicles being hailed, even though they are not legally allowed to be flagged down.

This, he added, had led to a concentration of revellers hanging around the road at the end of a night out knowing they could get a cab.

The spokesman said that instead of clamping down on this, the creation of a taxi rank meant the council and police were condoning the actions of rogue taxis.

He added: "Operations to catch these pirates have been few and far between. We are of the opinion that the council's failure to take proper action against offenders for long periods has created this problem.

"We believe a better proposal would be for the council to run high-visibility enforcement operations, supported by the police. This accompanied by advertising the location of all the town centre operators would, we believe, be far more effective."

Between 1.30am and 3.30am at weekends, up to 2,000 people can be in Darwen Street at any one time, looking for food from the area's many takeaways and a ride home.

But, according to council bosses and police, because there are only two private hire firms - Silverline and Golden Line - in the street, it can take up to two hours to get a taxi. They believe frustration at this situation causes the violence.

Since April, some 171 crimes have been recorded in the area, the majority being fights and public order offences.

So they have invited other private hire firms to queue up at the top of Darwen Street to help meet the demand for taxis. The road will be closed to all vehicles except taxis to allow them to queue.

If the scheme is successful this weekend, it will become standard practice.