PRIVATE hire drivers who illegally pick up passengers in the street are to be targeted by mystery passengers.

Members of the city council's licensing committee unanimously backed the scheme, which is supported by the police, in a bid to improve public safety.

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Under the terms of their licence, private hire cars can only pick up passengers through a pre-arranged booking made through the taxi booking office.

However council bosses say there is substantial evidence that some drivers are picking up people who flag them down creating a "significant risk to public safety."

No record will exist of the journeys meaning drivers invalidate their insurance causing problems for passengers and companies in the event of an accident.

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There is also considerable evidence that drivers who pirate for fares overcharge passengers, sometimes four times more than the proper rate.

In the first six months of this year, over half the complaints about private hire drivers which went before the licensing committee related to pirating.

In all cases, this resulted in the drivers having their licences suspended, sometimes for up to six months for repeat offenders.

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Frank Docherty, chairman of the licensing committee, said he was concerned the message that pirating is unacceptable was not getting through to drivers.

And he warned the rogue drivers are a scourge and need to be driven off the road.

Mr Docherty added: "Pirate drivers put passenger safety at risk. Like the pirates of old, these drivers are only interested in making a quick buck and to hell with the consequences.

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"The council has a very active taxi enforcement team but can't be everywhere at once.

"Unfortunately the drivers who end up in front of the committee may only be the tip of the iceberg.

"Private hire drivers will now be forced to think twice about who they are letting into their car. Do pirate drivers really want to take the chance they are actually taking a trip straight to the licensing committee and months out of work."

Mr Docherty said introducing the mystery passenger scheme would protect both passengers and the legitimate drivers who play by the rules.

Police Scotland told the committee there had been incidents involving unlicensed journeys where passengers had complained about substantial fraud and sexual assault.

Of the 36 complaints against drivers which went before councillors between January and June this year, 21 related to pirate drivers.

A total of 301 complaints were made to the council's taxi enforcement team in that time, a substantial proportion of which related to pirating.

If successful in targeting pirate drivers, the scheme may be extended to deal with issues such as the standard of service for disabled people, identifying drivers who do not use meters to calculate fares and other issues which highlight a failure to comply with licence conditions.