Cab drivers say council colours make taxis look like 'dustbin cars'

Hackney carriage taxi drivers are now required to brand their vehicles in Royal Borough colours under new council guidelines.

Drivers must use a white vehicle, with a purple boot and bonnet, and place a borough logo on the side when they change their transportation.

The move, implemented by the council's licensing panel in April, was made to distinguish the taxis from private hire and dangerous unlicensed vehicles - but one driver says it makes them look like 'dustbin cars.'

Taxi driver Mohammed Sulaman said: "It's making life hard for us.

"The logo is the same as the ones on the dustbin cars. We are providing a service and our customers are people, not rubbish."

Cllr Carwyn Cox (Con, Hurley and Walthams), a member of the licensing panel, responded by stating the new-look cars were smart and public safety should take precedence following a string of recent attacks involving unlicensed vehicles posing as taxis.