TAXI drivers have staged a protest over rules on how much room their passengers should have.

The drivers in Darlington are angry that under a town bylaw each person sitting in the back of their cars must have 16in of seating space.

This means the minimum a taxi's car seat must measure is 48in across.

Drivers in the town say that previously the minimum requirement was 13in per person and now they cannot get new cars accepted as taxis.

Billy Port, a taxi driver in the town, says he was told by the council that the requirement was 13in, but a council spokeswoman said a bylaw, passed in 1991, demanded at least 16in.

In protest at the rule, a group of taxi drivers led by Mr Port, presented the licensing department of Darlington Borough Council, with a toilet seat.

Mr Port said: "We handed over the toilet seat because that fits everyone, unlike our car seats. The council definitely told me at Christmas that the requirement was 13in per person but that has now been increased. I had thought about driving a Vauxhall Zafira car but the back seat is one inch short so I can't.

"As far as I know this is the only council around here that has such a stupid rule. Are people in Darlington bigger than elsewhere?"

A council spokeswoman said rules on length of seat had not changed since the 1991 bylaw came into force.