ILLEGAL taxis are putting passengers' lives at risk, council bosses and police warned today.

The warning comes after 12 vehicles were pulled off the road during sweeps in Burnley and Pendle aimed at cracking down on private hire drivers illegally plying for hire in town centres.

Six licensed drivers were caught in the late-night operation on Friday while picking up un-booked fares in the St James' Street and Hammerton Street area of Burnley.

All will be reported for various infringements, including having incorrect insurance and not displaying their private hire driver's badge.

Only hackney carriages, black cabs, can be stopped in the street. Private hire vehicles have to be booked through the operator's office.

In Pendle, 25 vehicles were stopped during the operation. Twenty-one of them were found to have relatively minor defects, ranging from faulty lights to minor mechanical defects, but six of them had problems so serious that the offending vehicles were immediately pulled off the road.

Coun Tony Lambert, chairman of Burnley Council licensing committee, said: "Private hire drivers picking up un-booked fares in the town centre late at night pose a threat to the safety of the people who frequent the pubs and clubs.

"The council and the police are determined to ensure that, through regular joint enforcement of the law and by educating the public through various safety initiatives, that these types of problems will be stopped.

"Under no circumstances should a member of the public enter a private hire vehicle without first pre-booking it with the operator. Just hailing a private hire vehicle in the street not only invalidates the vehicle's insurance, but the driver and vehicle may not even be licensed."

PC Neil Goodison, from the Pennine Division Road Policing Unit said: "I am sure the vast majority of drivers and operators take their responsibilities very seriously and make sure their vehicles are maintained to the highest standards. In fact, a good number of operators welcomed the checks.

"However, as this exercise has shown, there are some who have not been complying with the law and that is clearly a cause for concern.

"Whilst some of the defects were relatively minor, others were very serious and could have put passengers in unnecessary danger.

"I would like to remind taxi drivers and operators of their responsibilities.

"The last thing we want is to see anyone killed, or injured, on our roads because they were travelling in an unroadworthy vehicle."

Mohammed Akram, chairman of Pendle Private Hire Taxi Association, backed the safety drive.

He said: "The more spot checks, the better. If we have regular safety inspections then things will start to improve."

Last month 20 taxis stopped in random checks in Nelson failed safety inspections.

Further joint evening enforcement operations will take place in the coming weeks.