LEEDS cab drivers and Unite will rally against government plans to slash the number of taxi licensing local authorities on Sunday.

Cross-border hiring, when a private hire operator accepts a booking for a journey outside the local authority it is licensed in, has led to drivers obtaining licences from authorities with the least stringent standards.

The independent Casey review has warned this puts women and children at risk of group-based sexual exploitation.

But the union warns the proposal to combine all licensing authority areas in West Yorkshire could “make things worse” by seeing an up to 10,000 influx of drivers into Leeds. 

It calls for national licensing standards, rules ensuring taxis start and finish in their licensed areas and better enforcement instead.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The proposed reforms will not solve the problems created by cross-border hiring.”

The Department for Transport was contacted for comment.