STRIKING hackney cab drivers in Bicester and Banbury have stepped up their strike action today.

Drivers have withdrawn their vehicles all day today and will not be back on the road until tomorrow morning.

It is the second weekend running that all 83 hackney carriage drivers in north Oxfordshire have stayed at home in an increasingly bitter dispute over Cherwell District Council's scheme to de-restrict the number of licences.

If the plan is given the go-ahead it would mean that anyone who passes a fit-for-purpose vehicle test could become a taxi driver.

Last weekend, Hackney cabs were also withdrawn on Friday and Saturday nights. The council spent £3,000 on drafting in three buses - two in Banbury and one in Bicester - to take people home and are repeating the exercise this weekend.

Last weekend, tempers flared and the buses were given police escorts after three people were arrested in connection with the dispute.

Saeed Ahmed, who has been working as a cabbie for more than 30 years, said he stood to lose almost £400 over the two weekends.

He said: "We had another meeting with the council on Friday but to no avail so we decided to withdraw our taxis Friday night and all day Saturday.

"We are very disappointed with the council's approach. We hope to meet the council again later in the week in an effort to resolve this dispute."