A ROW over a city centre taxi rank has prompted York’s MP to call for all sides to meet up and reach a solution.

The plea by Hugh Bayley comes after cabbies presented a petition to City of York Council asking for the rank in Duncombe Place, opposite the Dean Court Hotel, to be returned to 24-hour operation.

The rank was one of York’s busiest but in 2007 it was closed between the hours 10pm and 7.30pm following complaints of anti-social behaviour made by nearby residents and the management of the Dean Court.

Mr Bayley said he was contacted by a cabbie who was moved on by police when he tried to stop in front of a queue of around 100 people, waiting at the rank in the early hours of Christmas Day.

The MP then wrote to North Yorkshire Police and City of York Council, asking them to resolve the squabble. He said he received a reply from police saying they were carrying out the directions of the council.

Mr Bayley said: “It seems to me the solution is for the council, who make the rules, and the police, who enforce the rules, and the residents, who are disturbed by the noise, to get together and sort something out,” he said.

“The number of spaces for cabs needs to reflect the demand. If you have 100 people waiting for a taxi then you are inviting trouble,” he said.

“It may be in the interest of the hotel and the residents not to have people waiting,” he added.

Black cab drivers have now submitted the petition, organised by driver Bill Brolly, with around 150 signatures of taxi drivers on it. It calls on the council to reinstate 24-hour opening of the rank.

If the request is refused, the petition suggests a taxi rank in St Sampson’s Square so that late night taxi provision is increased.

York Taxi Association is supporting the petition. Its secretary, Graham Phillips, said: “We want Duncombe Place to return to 24 hours. It’s the safest rank in York; it’s well-lit and easily-accessible to the public.

“It’s the main rank for the north of the city and a lot of our female customers use it.”

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said in the first instance the petition would be discussed at a meeting between licensing officers and taxi drivers but that if any changes were to be made they would first have to go out to public consultation. The Dean Court Hotel declined to comment.