Cabbies in Bradford are being pulled up by irate passengers and quizzed over a non-existent £1 button.

The row has escalated since a Court report in the Telegraph & Argus after a taxi driver lost his licence for over-charging an elderly passenger.

During Jitendra Gupta's appeal hearing at Bradford Crown Court earlier this month, it emerged that some cabbies added £1 to the final fare by pressing a button on the meter.

C D Khalid, president of the Bradford Hackney Carriage Association, has hit back saying this is not done in Bradford - and drivers are suffering.

"This matter has had an adverse effect on other drivers' business. Many passengers are now wasting drivers' time and disputing fares at the end of journey.

"They invariable ask if the extras button has been pressed. It is the case that such a button has not been part of taximeters from some years. Indeed there is no such button in any of the 224 hackney carriage taximeters - all of which are checked and sealed by the Council."

All meters would have been double-checked shortly before Christmas when the tariff rose by more than 10p a mile.

Mr Gupta is still unable to work as a taxi driver, after the court case which was prompted by a complaint from June Haley. She said he charged her £1 more than she usually paid for the same trip.

A Council spokesman said: "Taxi meters do have a button drivers can press to charge for extras, but the meters on our hackney carriages have been altered so they cannot be used.

"If one of our drivers tries to use this button it should read '00' and nothing will be added. Our meters are routinely checked every year when prices change, when the drivers change their vehicle or if meters are found to be defective."