The skids have been put on a limousine company that squeezed 15 women into a vehicle only licensed to carry eight passengers.

The group had ordered two limos from Broadstairs-based Chapel Hill Limousines to take them on a Christmas shopping trip to Harrods in London in December last year.

But when only one limo arrived, the driver, David Crow, said he would take them to the capital and back in a single vehicle.

The 41-year-old, of Stone Road, Broadstairs, had been granted a 12-month private hire driver’s licence in June 2009. He was also given a one-year operator's licence the following month.

The licensing department at Thanet District Council launched an investigation in January after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.

It found some of the women had to sit on the floor because the vehicle did not have sufficient seats or seat belts.

One woman was so uncomfortable she moved from the rear floor to the front of the limo at a motorway service station, only to find she had to sit on the floor again because there was no seat.

Mr Crow was interviewed under caution and confirmed he was the driver.

He also admitted booking records obtained by the council as part of the investigation were not up-to-date. If the vehicle had been involved in an accident, any insurance covering the vehicle would have been invalid.

The council suspended both the operator's and driver's licences on January 28.

Cllr John Kirby, the cabinet member for regulatory services at Thanet council, said: "People’s lives were potentially being put at risk here. There can be no excuse for taking passengers in a car which does not have enough seats or seatbelts.

"Imagine what could have happened had there been an accident - the consequences are too terrible to consider."