Cab ads to fund improved security

Bradford Council came under pressure from the city's cab firms

Taxi drivers in Bradford will be allowed to carry adverts on their cabs to fund extra security measures after a spate of violent attacks.

The city council has reversed a ban on advertising after coming under pressure following the killings of three taxi drivers in Yorkshire in the past year.

It was lobbied by individual taxi firms and the Bradford Hackney Carriage Owners' Association.

The cash raised will be used to install CCTV cameras and security screens.

A pilot CCTV scheme in 33 taxis in Sheffield last December led to a sharp reduction in attacks.

However, that did not prevent the killing of taxi driver Younis Khan, 53, who was shot dead in Sheffield in March.

Mahmood Ahmed, 36, was stabbed to death in his cab in Keighley in April 2006, while Mohammed Parvaiz was murdered by a gang in Huddersfield in July 2006.

The attacks led the editor of trade magazine Taxi-Today, Tony Mite, to say he believed the profession had become the "most dangerous" in the country.