JUBILANT taxi drivers have spoken of their joy after councillors declined to renew Uber’s licence.

The controversial company, which uses an app to allow customers to book journeys, will no longer be able to work in York after Christmas Eve when their current licence expires.

City of York Council’s Gambling, Licensing and Regulatory Committee’s decision was greeted with huge cheers after 35 drivers had packed into the room on Tuesday to watch the meeting take place.

The meeting heard from drivers who were concerned the company was

using drivers from outside of York and regularly picked up passengers who had not booked.

There were also question marks over how Uber handled a cyber attack in October 2016 when the data of 57

million users and drivers was hacked and it was not disclosed for 13 months

Neil McGonigle, Uber’s head of

cities for the north of England, said he was proud of the service in York, and 28,000 people had used Uber in the city.

The firm has 10 registered drivers in York, and Mr McGonigle said Uber had had built a good relationship with the council.

Taxi driver Wendy Loveday said: “Everybody has worked so hard throughout this year. I never gave up hope and we were never going to give up fighting.

“We just worked really hard and I’m still shocked, but I believed we could and the councillors supported us.

"They asked so many questions and they weren’t just going to tick a box and give Uber a licence. I’m such an optimist and believe you will get whatever you want if you work hard.”

Mike Palmer, secretary of the York Private Hire Association, added: “When I was going into the meeting I thought the best result we could hope for was for Uber to get some restrictions on their licence.

“It’s a great result for us and every council can use it to suspend them all over the country. It’s a morale boost because a lot of the drivers on both sides – the Hackney Carriages and Private Hire – have put a lot of hard work into this. The 10 drivers who worked for Uber will be welcomed back into the trade because they are good drivers and are well trained. We now need to concentrate on stopping the out-of-town drivers from coming into York.”

Mr McGonigle said: “This is a

disappointing vote for the riders and drivers who use our app in the city.

“More choice and competition is a good thing for both consumers and licensed drivers in the area.

"Passengers tell us they love being able to track their car on a live map, pay without cash and get a receipt with their fare and the route taken. Licensed drivers partner with us because with Uber they can choose if, when and where they drive."

Mr McGonigle said Uber would review the details of the decision "once we receive the formal notice from the council".