Two city cabbies have had their taxi licences revoked by Canterbury Council after complaints about the poor standard of their driving, persistant speeding and aggressive behavioiur.

A further four applications for licences were also refused by the council because the applicants had criminal convictions, including for drug dealing, assault, criminal damage and using threatening words or behaviour.

The decisions to revoke or refuse the licences were taken at recent closed meetings of council’s licensing committee.

Commercial Health Manager Roger Vick said: "There has been a lot of publicity recently about the number of private hire and taxi licences in the Canterbury district.

"It is important to stress that we are legally unable to deny someone a licence if they have the right to work in this country, pass checks such as a Criminal Records Bureau check , a local knowledge test and meet the residential requirements.

"However, when there are good reasons to either deny or revoke a licence, such as in these examples, we won’t hesitate to do so.

"The safety of the public when using private hire and taxi vehicles is of paramount importance to the council. Local people have a right to expect the vehicle they are getting into is driven by a competent and responsible person."