Taxi drivers who say they are having to work longer hours to make ends meet have seen their calls for a cap on cabbie numbers refused.

Unlike most of its neighbours, Tonbridge does not limit the number of taxis that it licenses to operate in the market town.

But as a consequence some cabbies say there are too many taxis in town and they are having to spend too long idling on the rank while waiting for a fare.

At present there are 173 licensed hackney carriage vehicles - slightly fewer than there was pre-Covid (179).

Over the years, the figure has remained remarkably stable - but had been as high as 180 a decade ago in 2014.

However, Anthony Garnett, the licensing manager for Tonbridge and Malling council, said there was anecdotal evidence some drivers were working longer hours, which could have the effect of making more taxis available at any one time.

There had also been a change over time with more drivers holding dual licenses - enabling them to do both hackney carriage (taxi) work and private hire jobs.

In 2014, there had been 169 hackney carriage drivers and 112 dual drivers, making 281 in total.

Today, there are 61 hackney carriage drivers and 197 dual drivers making 258 in total - fewer than before.

Under the law, a borough is only able to put a limit on the number of taxis it licenses if it can show there is no “unmet demand” for taxis.

To do this, it has to employ a specialist team who look at issues such as the number of taxis at a rank at different times of the day, and the difficulty the public has in hailing a cab.

The survey is expensive but the cost is borne by the taxi drivers themselves, who have it added to their licence fee. A rough estimate was that it would cost each of them £40.

Despite that, in a quick electronic poll by the council 35 drivers said they would want such a survey to be carried out.

But that was from 261 polled and so represented only 13%.

The vast majority - 80% - did not respond at all.

If a cap were imposed, by law the unmet demand survey would have to be repeated every three years.

The council’s licensing committee agreed with Conservative Cllr Martin Coffin’s proposal that no action be taken and that Tonbridge should remain without a cap on the number of taxis.

However, one of the 49 taxi drivers who had signed a petition calling for a cap on numbers made their feelings known afterwards.

He said: “They don’t seem to realise that our work has halved since Covid, with so many people working from home and choosing not to go out.

“Drivers are having to work extra hours just to get a decent wage.

“I used to stop work at 4pm, now I’m still out till midnight or 2am trying to make my target.

“There are now too many drivers chasing too little work. Tonbridge has licensed 173 vehicles, but Tunbridge Wells has capped theirs at 107.

“Why do councillors consider Tonbridge needs so many more cabs than Tunbridge Wells? Tonbridge is dead at night!”