GUIDE dogs are set to get free rides in local cabs.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has welcomed the new Disability Discrimination Act which contains a clause requiring hire vehicles to carry guide dogs in their cabs free of charge.

Council managers are busily amending licences for both private hire and hackney cabs to include the condition before the Act is unleashed at the end of the month.

Mr Prentice is a keen supporter of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and has made his contribution to their access campaign by urging Pendle council to incorporate the taxi clause into their licence conditions before they were forced to.