WICKFORD taxi drivers are being forced out of business by a flooded market and a council that does not care about them, three disgruntled cabbies have claimed.

Mark Everett, Mark Shortt and Dean Philpot, who have more than 16 years' experience between them, claim Basildon Council's decision to remove the limit on the number of Hackney carriages in the town in April has left them working up to 18 hours a day.

Now, the trio - who pay more than £500 a year in licensing and other fees - are demanding the council takes notice of them before it is too late.

Published Thursday, November 17, 2005