Black cab drivers from Sutton were out in protest at the GLA headquarters this week claiming Mayor Ken Livingstone was letting too many cabbies out into the suburbs.

The 22 joined hundreds of others from outer London last Tuesday morning, to tell the absent Mayor that too many cabbies were chasing too few customers in suburbia, thanks to a deliberate policy of easing training requirements.

The demonstrators, under the auspices of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA), urged him to conduct a survey of black cab demand in outer London, but one Sutton driver did not rule out strike action.

Dave Taffurelli, who joined the protest, said he was having to work a 12 or 13 hour day to survive economically.

He said: "That's two hours more than before. It's getting beyond a joke - we've already lost a third of our customers to the hopper buses.

"I've been speaking to a guy in Coventry and they strike every weekend and that's something that should happen in London if this goes on."

Mr Taffurelli, who has driven cabs in the borough for almost 30 years, said the rank at Sutton station was overflowing with cabs at rush hour, with typically double the capacity of 14 in place.

He added: "We're blocking up the streets and we are upsetting the people at the office blocks there. They are flooding the suburban ranks."

According to the 55-year-old, this had come about through a deliberate relaxation of the suburban badge exams, to work in one of the designated outer London areas.

He said: "It's becoming a bit of a disgrace. We did have the reputation of being the finest cab drivers in the world - all that's gone out of the window."

LTDA executive officer John Thomas said the demonstration had been peaceful and successful, with at least 400 drivers from outer London joining in.

It had made the point that "issuing licences without regard for the work that's available has got to stop" and a letter for the attention of the Mayor of London had been handed over to director of surface transport Peter Hendy.

A GLA spokesman said he disputed the numbers of drivers claimed by the LTDA to have taken part in the demonstration. He was reticent about commenting further, but said: "We've got the letter and we are going to look into their points."

December 3, 2001 15:30