TAXI drivers and firms who faced detailed weekly safety checks on vehicles have been granted a reprieve.

Blackburn with Darwen Council public protection committee has agreed to allow private hire and hackney carriage operators to come up with with their own system.

The decision follows fierce objection to the council's proposals for maintenance checks.

More than 500 protesters signed a petition which warned the new conditions would double fare prices and put firms out of business.

Councillors have given licensed drivers until December to come up with their own plan.

New measures are being introduced after random checks on taxis operating in the borough revealed many cars were not meeting existing standards and some vehicles had to be taken off the road.

Committee chairman Coun Jim Blackburn said: "We hope drivers and firms will come up with a voluntary procedure to make sure their vehicles are checked for safety. "We have asked drivers to bring a comprehensive plan to us which will be considered by this committee again in December.

"If the plan is acceptable then we will ask them to implement it immediately and review it in 12 months. Our main aim is to ensure the safety of passengers using private hire vehicles and hackney carriages in this borough.

"As a licensing authority we have a duty to ensure that vehicles meet expected standards."

Tariq Mahmood, owner of Intact Private Hire, Blackburn, speaking on behalf of the Private Hire Association of Blackburn and Darwen, said: "We would have liked the matter to have been deferred for 12 months.

"But we are grateful we are at least being given the chance to have our say.

"We just do not believe weekly checks conducted by the drivers will work so we'll have to come up with an alternative."

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