DISGRUNTLED taxi drivers in Darlington say the borough council is ignoring people breaching taxi regulations.

They say the majority of drivers conform to regulations introduced by Darlington Borough Council last year.

But they say others are in breach of their licence conditions and that the council's taxi licensing officers are failing to enforce the law.

Regulations include drivers only being allowed to carry advertising on their cabs if the vehicles are a specific shade of red.

Mick Kennedy, chairman of the Darlington Independent Taxi Traders Organisation, said: "The regulations introduced by the council were costly and bureaucratic but, at the end of the day, the majority of us complied with them. But there are some drivers who haven't made the changes and licensing officers are turning a blind eye to them."

Darlington council's licensing manager, Barry Pearson, has rejected claims that the regulations are not being properly enforced