TAXI drivers in York have called for better safety measures to protect drivers after a string of incidents.

Saf Din, chair of the York Hackney Carriage Drivers Association, said he had appealed to City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police for extra support for drivers.

He said: "We are very concerned for the safety of taxi drivers as we have a vulnerable role around the clock. We don't know who we're picking up because that's the nature of the job."

Mr Din said there had been a number of recent incidents against taxi drivers, including an attack which saw a vehicle's window smashed at York Station and which also injured the driver's eye, and an incident on Saturday night during a journey outside the city.

He said: "A driver was taking three passengers to Sowerby near Thirsk and halfway along the journey two men started to have a fight in the car, then turned on the driver.

"I'm not sure what the answer is, but we need some assistance from police and the authorities."

Mr Din wrote to City of York Council to renew calls for cameras which can record video as well as audio inside licensed taxis - currently, cameras must face out the windscreen, but can record audio inside the cab - or a radio system or panic button which could alert police to incidents as they happen and speed up response times.

Matt Boxall, the council’s head of public protection, said: "To support driver and passenger safety, our licensing policy allows vehicles to carry approved CCTV systems. The systems need to ensure that the images can be used as evidence and are encrypted to protect passengers’ rights to privacy.

"We have a list of approved systems and drivers proposing new ones can ask the manufacturer to contact us and show that they meet our standards for it to be added to the list."

The gunman has since been linked with two other incidents on Sunday night by North Yorkshire Police, and investigations are ongoing to try and trace him.