HYNDBURN taxi firms will be allowed to have advertising slogans on their cabs - despite fears being raised from councillors.

Until recently, the policy on Hackney carriages did not allow vehicles to have any printed or written advertisement on any part of the vehicles unless it was by special consent of the council.

At a meeting of the council’s Cabinet group, a decision was taken to change the rules, allowing adverts to go on taxis.

But the plans sparked an angry outburst from independent Councillor Malcolm Pritchard.

He said: “I think this is a disgusting idea. You don’t get advertising on taxis in London or Manchester, so why should we have it over here in Hyndburn?

“I think this is a stupid idea as it will spoil the taxis within Hyndburn. It will be like opening a big door and then falling through it.”

But council leader Peter Britcliffe said many towns had taxi firms which allowed advertising on them.

He said: “I have listened carefully and I respect what Councillor Pritchard has said, but having advertising on taxis is not as unusual as you might think.

“Many taxis in London are branded and have slogans on them. It would be wrong of us as a Conservative administration not to encourage legitimate free enterprise.”

The decision was passed, but council bosses said they would review the situation in a year’s time.

After the meeting, Councillor Britcliffe said: “We have gone into this quite deeply and we are not expecting it to cause any problems. However, we will review it in 12 months to make sure it is not causing any problems.”