A WOMAN taxi-driver is recovering from a terrifying ordeal after being dragged from her cab, punched in the face and robbed by two passengers.

Sue Simpson,who works for Premier Cabs in Blackpool, was attacked after picking up the men from the Halfway Pub in Blackpool's South Shore on July 18 at 11.20 pm.

The men, who ordered the taxi under the name Stuart, made the 32-year-old cabbie drive them around town before asking her to stop on Stamford Avenue in Marton.

One man then got out of the taxi and walked round to the driver's window as if to pay the fare. He then launched a vicious attack on Sue Simpson instead, dragging her from the cab onto the pavement and punching her in the face.

The men then drove off in the cab with the night's takings. The burnt out Renault Laguna saloon was later found on Laundry Road in Blackpool.

The incident follows another attack on a Blackpool cabbie only weeks ago when David Dennett was stabbed and robbed by a fare he picked up in Talbot Square in Blackpool.

Sue Simpson was treated in Blackpool Victoria Hospital for facial injuries and Premier Cabs say they don't know whether she will return to work.

Daniel Widdall from the company said: "She's very badly shaken, as are we. We're all very, very angry that this has happened and something has got to be sorted out.

"It's time all the bosses put their heads together and came up with a safer system for Blackpool taxi drivers."

Police are looking for the men, who are described as about 5ft 6ins tall, one wearing a black baseball cap and black t-shirt and the other wearing a light coloured top.