TAXI operators have been urged to follow all required safety measures when carrying people with disabilities.

The call has been made to private hire and hackney carriage businesses in Chester-le-Street after a disabled rights campaigner banged his head in a taxi.

Wheelchair user Bob Hall, North-East vice-chairman of the mental health charity Scope, said his wheelchair was not properly clamped into the special taxi in which he was travelling home to Chester-le-Street from Durham Railway Station.

Mr Hall, 48, a blind tetraplegic since suffering a brain tumour in 1993, and subsequent brain haemorrhages, said: "I was neither given a safety belt nor had my chair clamped in. Going round a roundabout I banged my head. I have excess fluid drained from my brain and I can ill afford bumps on my head.

"You feel damned unsafe. The driver said he hadn't been shown how to put the clamps in place.

"I travel quite a lot and pre-book wheelchair taxis through a number of firms. Some are excellent, following the correct procedure, but I have had problems once before."

Mr Hall, a former district councillor, complained to the council, as the taxi licensing authority, about the latest incident.

He said the Disability Discrimination Act will enforce more taxi firms to be capable of carrying wheelchairs by 2002.

Chester-le-Street council leader Malcolm Pratt said the authority considers safety a priority.

"It's paramount it is safe for all people, not only the disabled. Licensed drivers should be aware of this because the conditions specifically state safety is of utmost importance.

"Considering the huge number of miles the taxis cover collectively we get very few complaints, but I'm sorry to hear of Mr Hall's problems."

George Gardner, owner of Chester-le-Street's A1 Taxis, said he only sends drivers who are capable of correctly clamping wheelchairs on calls to pick up disabled people.

"We do a lot of work for wheelchair users and we have a contract with a hospital. We've only had a problem once with one driver and you have to ensure whoever is doing the job can do it properly.