TAXI drivers have won a year-long legal battle with a North-East council over the colour of their cabs.

Durham City Council, which wanted all 64 hackney carriages based in the city to be white, is expected to confirm today that it will not appeal against a court decision which found in favour of the taxi drivers.

Adrian Fets, chairman of Durham Independent Taxi Association, said the wrangle had proved a waste of money for taxpayers', adding: "It is a victory for commonsense. This issue should never have got to this stage in the first place."

The row, which is estimated to have cost taxpayers about £20,000, broke out in August last year when the authority introduced the all-white policy.

Council officers argued the colour coding would help passengers tell the difference between hackney carriages, which can be hailed in the street, and private hire vehicles, which have to be pre-booked. They also said the uniform colour would smarten the image of the city.

However, cabbies said they would be left to pick up the bill for buying the increasingly difficult-to-find white cars and staged a one-day taxi strike last year.

In November 2004, Mr Fets took his case to Durham Magistrates' Court and successfully challenged the ruling, but the city council appealed against the decision and a four-day Crown Court hearing followed, which in September again found in favour of the taxi drivers and awarded costs against the council.

Council leader Fraser Reynolds said: "We are disappointed because we feel there is a safety issue here. Quite often you hear of people getting into a rogue taxi by mistake.

"We can't understand it. Other authorities have been allowed to have a single colour scheme."

The outcome in Durham is similar to that in nearby Darlington where the local council was also taken to court after it decided that only bright red cars could carry advertising.

This caused a loss of revenue for many whose taxis were not the right colour.

Darlington taxi driver George Jenkinson took the council to court over the matter, defeating the authority twice after it refused to grant him a licence and also told him to take advertising down.

It eventually agreed to grant his licence and pay an out-of-court settlement to him, while covering his legal fees.

Mr Jenkinson said: "I'm over the moon for the taxi drivers in Durham. It should not matter what colour your taxi is, providing it is easily recognisable as a taxi."