TWO Keighley men have been successfully prosecuted by Rossendale Council over a hackney cab licensed in the rural Lancashire borough as part of a clampdown by the authority.

It comes after calls for urgent action to stop cabs from across the Pennines operating in parts of the Bradford district by Keighley Public Transport Forum.

Campaigners say such drivers are immune from enforcement action locally and that standards in the Lancashire borough are lower. Rossendale has also been accused of approving too many licences - with 3,486 licensed hackney carriage drivers and 1,846 licensed hackney carriage vehicles, while Bradford has 222 black cab licences and 2,700 private hire vehicle permits

The two Keighley men, Nasir Ali, 26, of Minnie Street, and Usman Ali, 23, of Chatsworth Street, were both handed a six month conditional discharge, over an incident on March 23. Nasir Ali accepted that he drove a hackney carriage plated by Rossendale when he did not have the correct Council-issued licence to drive it. He denied plying for hire, claiming he had gone to sort out the broken-down taxi and drove it a short distance before it failed.

The case was heard in his absence at Burnley Magistrates Court and as well as the conditional discharge, he was ordered to pay £240 in costs.

Usman Ali received the same sentence as he was the proprietor of the vehicle.

West Yorkshire authorities, such as Bradford and Kirklees, have raised concerns about cross border licensing, where drivers obtain a licence with another authority such as Rossendale, but work elsewhere and are immune from local enforcement action.

The conclusion of the court cases also comes as Rossendale prepares to alter its policies on issuing licences, including a new rule to curb drivers working elsewhere. An "intended use" policy is part of the new changes which are to be discussed by the authority's licensing committee next week, before a final decision by full Council next month.

Chairman of Rossendale Council's licensing committee, Councillor Colin Crawforth, said of the recent prosecution: "It clearly states in legislation that anyone wishing to act as a hackney carriage (taxi) driver or to use a vehicle as a hackney carriage must be licensed by the council as a driver and must also have the vehicle licensed.

"We take a hard stance on this and any breaches of this legislation will not be tolerated."

Bradford Council's deputy leader, Councillors Val Slater, whose portfolio includes taxi and private hire licensing, has previously claimed that drivers who were turned down for licences in Bradford were going to Rossendale, where she claims standards for knowledge tests, English tests and criminal record checks are lower.

She also urged people ordering minicabs locally to specifically ask for ones with a Bradford licence.

A spokesman for Rossendale Council previously rejected any claim that Rossendale's cabs were unsafe to use or that its standards were lower.