A COUNCIL wants to make in-car CCTV compulsory for all new cabbies after the brutal murder of a taxi driver.

At a cabinet meeting on September 15, Gravesham Council agreed to consult with the public on new taxi regulations.

If the initiative is given the green light, the council believes it would be the first local authority to introduce compulsory installation of CCTV.

Rick Davis, the joint secretary of the United Taxi Group, which represents taxi drivers in Gravesend, said: "It is about driver and passenger safety, everybody should be happy about it.

"It is fantastic."

The consultation comes after a campaign by taxi drivers in the wake of the death of Gravesend taxi driver Gian Chand Bajar.

Mr Davis, who has already had CCTV fitted in his cab, has said around 160 taxi drivers will be getting the cameras fixed over the next 10 weeks.

Each driver has paid £97 towards the cost, with the rest of the funding from an EU grant from the Urban Fund, Gravesham Council and police.

Mr Davis said: "I always said somebody would die before anything was done about it.

"It has been the end of a very long campaign."

Mr Bajar was murdered on May 23 last year as he drove Luke Aujila home.

Aujila was given a life sentence, with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 20 years, after he knocked the 71-year-old to the ground and kicked him after an argument over the taxi fare.

The 21-year-old then ran over Mr Bajar with the taxi driver's cab.

The new regulations would also include the introduction of a penalty points system, revised driver application procedures, enhanced testing and a system to ensure drivers from outside the UK can legally work.

Inspector Paul Anderson of north Kent Police has been working on the project since last year.

He said: "I am more than pleased we are now at a stage where fitting has started.

"It will help to reassure and make travelling in the town centre much safer."

The consultation will run until November 28. A final decision is expected to be made in January next year and the changes could come into force in February.