MINICAB firms were holding a crisis meeting last night, after a senior councillor spoke of her safety fears about cabs licensed by Rossendale in Lancashire.

Yesterday, the Telegraph & Argus exclusively reported that Bradford Council deputy leader, Councillor Val Slater, said she would not travel in a car licensed by Rossendale but operating in Bradford.

And she advised people that to be "100 per cent safe", they should ask private hire firms to send cars with Bradford plates.

While her comments have been welcomed by many cabbies' groups, one representative of the trade said the warning had caused havoc in private hire offices up and down the district.

Khurram Shehzad, chairman of the Bradford Private Hire Liaison Service, said many customers were now specifically asking for Bradford-licensed cabs, but telephone operators often did not know which drivers had which licenses.

Mr Shehzad, who is also operator of Local Cars, in Wibsey, Bradford, said he disagreed with Cllr Slater that Rossendale-licensed cars were less safe than their Bradford counterparts.

And he said reputable companies carried out weekly checks to make sure all their cars were safe, but it was proving time-consuming to tell each customer this.

He said: "All operators are very frustrated. They are saying all sorts. They are upset about the way this has been done. She hasn't discussed this with the trade."

Mr Shehzad said operators had convened a meeting last night to discuss the situation between themselves.

But Cllr Slater said Mr Shehzad had not raised his concerns with her.

She said: "I have just had a meeting with taxi associations and Mr Shehzad was there. He never said one word.

"I was being congratulated by other private hire and hackney carriage people about taking a stand and he never said one dicky-bird."

Under the law, drivers can get hackney carriage licenses in one district and use it to work as a private hire driver anywhere else in the country.

But Cllr Slater, whose portfolio includes taxi and private hire licensing, had warned that Rossendale had lower standards for knowledge tests, English tests and criminal records checks.

Rossendale cars also cannot be stopped and checked by Bradford Council's taxi enforcement team.

Rossendale Council has said it is reviewing its taxi licensing policies, but a spokesman said any suggestion its vehicles were unsafe was "wholly unsubstantiated".

Last month, a Rossendale enforcement officer visited the district on a joint operation with Bradford Council staff.

They pulled over four Rossendale-licensed cars, and all four had problems. Two had faults so serious, they were immediately taken off the road.