INDEPENDENT taxi drivers said last night there was "a strong possibility" of strike action at Darlington railway station this afternoon.

The drivers, along with cabbies at York and Newcastle stations, fear they will be driven out of business by a new, national private hire company called Taxibank UK, which this week was awarded the Darlington station franchise by GNER.

The hackney drivers pay an annual fee to the owners of the franchise to use the rank, which they say has tripled in three years.

Taxibank said last night it hoped to secure franchises for all station ranks along the East Coast Main Line, and install telephones on trains for passengers to pre-book their cabs.

Independent hackney drivers working stations along the line met secretly this week to discuss strike action. They fear Taxibank will only allow their own, pre-booked private hire vehicles to use the ranks.

One cabbie said all drivers working in Darlington were being encouraged to join Taxibank as private hire drivers, at a rate of £300 a week.

He said last night: "I don't know when we will strike.

"It could be tomorrow but it could be next week." But there was a strong possibility it would be this afternoon.

However, Quentin Curtis, managing director of Taxibank UK, said indendent drivers had assured the company they would not strike.

"If any of the drivers have concerns they are welcome to phone me personally and talk about them," he said.

Mick Kennedy, of the Darlington Independent Taxi Traders' Association, said: "The strike will not happen if GNER, who granted the franchise, agrees to talk with us.