A BOGUS taxi driver who raped a grandmother has been jailed for life and described by a judge as an "extremely dangerous and predatory" man.

Asif Ali offered a lift to a couple and then abducted the woman - who was in her fifties - before driving to a remote spot where the sex attack took place in his car.

He had been released from jail only seven days earlier, having served part of a five-year term for raping a teenage girl.

Ali, 24, of Lee Street, Burnley, had denied raping the woman, but was convicted by a jury following a trial just before Christmas.

It resulted in the automatic life sentence being passed at Preston Crown Court.

Judge Philip Sycamore told him: "It is difficult to imagine a more horrific and degrading set of circumstances for the complainant to have experienced.

"The public is entitled to be protected from you. You are extremely dangerous and predatory".

Taxi driver Duncan Allan, who is secretary of the Private Hire Association in Burnley, today spoke of the problems faced by genuine taxi drivers.

He said: "It is very, very, difficult. When someone has had a drink they come out of a pub or club and jump into anything that resembles a vehicle.

"We have asked about putting lights on the top of cars or putting adverts on the side to make it more obvious that it is not just a car but a taxi.

"It is down to educating the public but at the end of the day if it is raining heavy people will jump into anything.

"It is just a nightmare."

In July last year Ali had offered the woman and her boyfriend a lift one night. The judge said the defendant engineered a situation where the boyfriend called at a garage to get change for the "fare".

While the man was out of the vehicle, Ali drove off with her inside the vehicle. He travelled to a remote spot and subjected her to a "terrifying and

humiliating" ordeal in the back of the car.

The woman begged him not to rape her, even saying she had sons older than him. But Ali carried out the attack.

At his trial, he claimed the woman had consented to sex. His previous conviction for rape was at Burnley Crown Court in June 2000.

Defence barrister Bernadette Baxter said he and his family knew that a life sentence would follow.

"For the rest of his days he will be subject to licence. That is a powerful deterrent," she said.

Ali, who is currently serving his outstanding licence due for completion in a year's time, will have to serve his latest sentence on top of that. Judge Sycamore directed that the defendant serve a minimum of seven years before he can even be considered by the parole board for possible release.

He told him "You are, in my opinion, a very dangerous young man from whom the public, particularly vulnerable females, must be protected."

Ali will be on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.