A TAXI driver bearing more than just a passing resemblance to Santa Claus has taken to the streets dressed as the traditional festive figure in protest over a colleague's "de-bearding".

Scrooge council officials banned Ernie Willey, of Darlington firm 1AB Taxis, from wearing a fake beard because it stopped him from looking like his official ID badge.

Ernie, from Bishop Auckland, had been dressing as Father Christmas and decorating his car, offering free rides until Darlington Borough Council's taxi licensing people told him it was a danger to public safety.

People would not be able to recognise him from the badge, they said. And the decorations would have to go, too. They were an obstruction to his vision and a distraction to other drivers.

So, yesterday, and for the rest of the Christmas period, Phil Davies, 59, a member of Darlington Independent Taxi Traders Organisation (DITTO), decided he will be the trade's Santa. With a big white beard and an ample figure, Phil was the obvious choice.

"As long as there is one Santa Claus on the taxis, it shows the taxi community thinks of Christmas as well," said Phil, a Liverpudlian who has worked the Darlington ranks for 14 years. "They couldn't pull my beard off, it's here to stay."

A council spokesman said: "Now that the real Father Christmas has arrived, we just ask him to drive carefully."