Taxi drivers have branded the decision to allow Uber to continue to operate in London a “disaster“.

The ride-hailing company was denied a licence by Transport for London (TfL) in November 2019, citing breaches which compromised passenger safety and issues with transparency.

Today deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikram ruled Uber is now suitable to hold an operator licence "despite historical failings", to the frustration of taxi drivers who believe the company cannot be trusted.

A spokesperson for the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association said: "Today's decision is a disaster for London.

"Uber has demonstrated time and time again that it simply can't be trusted to put the safety of Londoners, its drivers and other road users above profit.

"Sadly, it seems that Uber is too big to regulate effectively, but too big to fail.

"Uber's own witnesses admitted a series of failures to address the photo fraud issue, which put passengers at risk.

“Shockingly, they also accepted that they were not upfront with TfL - suggesting the issue had been addressed when they knew full well it hadn't.

"By holding up their hands and finally accepting some responsibility, Uber has managed to pull the wool over the eyes of the court and create the false impression that it has changed for the better.

“A leopard doesn't change its spots and we are clear that Uber's underlying culture remains as toxic as it has ever been.”

In his judgement, Judge Ikram said: "Despite their historical failings, I find them, now, to be a fit and proper person to hold a London (Private Hire Vehicle) operator's licence."

TfL first refused to renew the company's licence in September 2017, but the firm was handed a 15-month licence by a judge in June 2018 after it took the case to court.

It was then given a further two-month licence in September 2019, after which TfL rejected Uber's application for a new licence, citing "several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk".

Judge Ikram was not asked to rule on whether TfL's decision was correct, but whether Uber was suitable now for the licence.

Many of the arguments heard over three days in court focused on a vulnerability in Uber's systems which allowed unauthorised people to upload their photographs to legitimate driver accounts, enabling them to pick up passengers.

This fraud involved 24 drivers exploiting a flaw with the app's GPS to share their accounts with 20 others, leading to 14,788 unauthorised rides.

In his judgement, Judge Ikram said: "Despite their historical failings, I find them, now, to be a fit and proper person to hold a London (Private Hire Vehicle) operator's licence."

The judge added: "Uber has presented no real challenge to the facts as presented by TfL though has challenged the suggestion that breaches were not taken seriously and any suggestion of bad faith on their part.

"Their approach has really been to explain why events took place as they did."