Taxi drivers are being driven out of their jobs by over-zealous council inspectors, claim Keighley cabbies.

They fear a threatened new wave of City Hall rules will lead to dozens more drivers hanging up their car keys.

The town could instead be overrun with unlicensed drivers who do not bother to take driving tests or have their cars checked.

Leading a campaign against proposed new regulations are the Keighley Private Hire Drivers' Association and the long-established firm Keighley Taxis.

They claim up to 500 taxi drivers across Bradford district have stopped working over the past 12 months due to increasing bureaucracy, fuel costs, insurance and a string of fines for breaching council rules.

The fear is that a proposed new penalty points system - which could lead to a driving ban simply for having a full ashtray - will be the final nail in the coffin.

"The whole trade is fearful of its livelihood," warns Linda Dixon, who has run Keighley Taxis for the past three decades with her husband John.

"We're getting penalised but we're only trying to earn a living. There's no way anyone can run to this - we will be the only city without a taxi."

The controversy centres around new proposals for driver training and vehicle inspection issued by Bradford council's hackney carriage and private hire unit.

Each taxi driver will start with 25 points and have between one and 10 points knocked off every time they break one of 150 rules.

These range from safe driving and vehicle roadworthiness to documentation, behaviour and car cleanliness.

John Kirkby, leader of Keighley Private Hire Drivers' Association, says many of the penalty points are unfair, ambiguous or open to interpretation by over-zealous inspectors.

He says some refer to mechanical problems that could only be spotted by a qualified mechanic during each vehicle's regular six-weekly check.

Others could lead to drivers being penalised simply because their last passenger was a builder returning from work or a blind person's dog.

Mr Kirkby says drivers are baffled by rules such as "CB radio not secured" and "jack and tools not in horn".

He says: "We don't understand why they're trying to go over the top with more rules and regulations.

"This is about putting drivers out of business rather than helping them. We're the ones sat there with drunks in the back. We're very vulnerable."

A Bradford council spokesman says the hackney carriage unit is anxious to improve driver and vehicle standards as well as other safety issues.

An initial consultation document was launched at a recent meeting of hackney carriage proprietors and private hire operators.

The document is being redrafted to incorporate some of their comments, and within the next fortnight the new version will go to all hackney carriage and private hire licence holders.

Drivers will have four weeks to consider the document, then further meetings will be held to gather comments before a final version is written for councillors to consider.