A BLACKBURN cabbie has warned someone will get seriously injured or killed unless a spate of throwing stones at taxis is stopped.

Altaf ‘Tiger’ Patel has twice had his windscreen damaged by items thrown from the side of Bolton Road.

He said: “Someone is going to lose their life unless this is stopped.”

And fellow cabbie Ashraf Mangera, chairman of the Blackburn and Darwen Hackney Carriage Association, has backed his warning revealing two of its members’ taxis have had passenger-side windows broken by stones.

They spoke out after angry drivers brought traffic to a standstill at the junction on Accrington Road for 15 minutes in protest at the stone-throwing.

Insp Martyn Holt, of Blackburn Police, convened a meeting on Monday with the taxi companies and the council to discuss the problem.

Mr Patel, 50, said: “I have been a taxi driver for nine years. This has happened before but never as often or as badly.

“It’s happened to me twice. First on October 20 near the Raj Restaurant on Bolton Road where a stone hit my windscreen and left a dent.

“The second time was near the Ewood Travellers' site when a stone hit my windscreen and left another dent. I had a lady customer and she was scared by it. This has to stop or a driver or one of their passengers, or both, is going to be seriously injured or lose their life.

“It is really dangerous when a taxi is moving in traffic. Each time I have had to spend £250 getting my windscreen repaired. Something needs to be done.”

Mr Mangera said: “We are very concerned about this. It is highly dangerous.

“We have had two of our members' taxis where rear passenger side windows have been broken by stones - on Redlam and at Intack.

“Someone could be badly hurt. It frightens passengers and something needs to be done.”

Inspector Holt said: “We have seen an increase in reports of stone throwing at vehicles. These reports are not confined to one area of Blackburn. The Neighbourhood Policing Team are fully aware and plans are in place to tackle these issues. We have met with the council to approach the issue on various fronts. We will not tolerate such behaviour and are taking these matters seriously.”

Mark Aspin, the council’s community protection lead, said: “We are working with the police to identify the perpetrators. It is important we protect our taxi drivers from harm when they are only trying to do their jobs.”