Taxi drivers in Reading have been given an extra two years to replace old high-emission vehicles, with the council acknowledging the ‘disastrous’ impact of the Covid pandemic on the trade.

In October 2019, the council passed a new policy which means all licensed black cabs will have to be electric or Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) by 2028.

This policy has remained in place, but drivers of the oldest and most polluting vehicles will now be given until 2022 to get their taxis off the fleet.

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Asif Rashid, chair of Reading Taxi Association (RTA), which represents around 90 per cent of licensed drivers in Reading, said: “We worked with the licensing officers and committee in agreeing the previous emissions policy.

“We were quite happy with that but Covid has come along and had a huge impact on us.

“We have all lost work for the whole year and we cannot see that improving in the near future.

“There are fields full of cabs because nobody wants to rent them.”

RTA, which represents around 90 per cent of licensed drivers in Reading, requested a delay in the implementation of the policy, asking for a three year reprieve.

However, at the meeting Mr Rashid said the taxi association would accept council officers’ recommendation of a two-year pause.

Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) Licensing Applications committee backed officers recommendations at the meeting on Wednesday (December 9), with the break taking place from now until October 2022.

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Councillor Tony Page, lead member for Transport, said the taxi trade has been “trashed comprehensively” by Covid and said the council is “very understanding and sympathetic” with drivers.

The council will review the policy again within the next 12 months, with councillors agreeing it is important to be “nimble and agile” in response to how the coronavirus crisis develops and its long-term impact.

Cllr Page added: “The extent to which the economy will recover in the town is anybody’s guess.

“There is a lot of guess work at the moment.”

According to the RTA, Reading licensed taxi drivers are currently running at a loss of 70 -75 per cent of their work in the daytime and up to 95 per cent after 10pm, with only half the fleet currently working.

Mr Rashid added: “It is a huge mark down for us and we are really struggling.”

The pause means 139 vehicles need to come off the fleet by 2022 in one go rather than incrementally over the next two years, with all vehicles still needing to be ULEV or electric by 2028.

RBC's Licensing Applications committee approved the plans on Wednesday, December 9.