FURIOUS Blackpool cabbies are being driven round the bend by delays in getting their licences.

Blackpool Borough councillor Henry Mitchell told The Citizen that drivers are having to wait weeks for a taxi "badge" because of Government delays with criminal record checks.

Without this information the council cannot make a decision on whether to grant a new licence. Many drivers are facing financial hardship and the prospect of not working until well into the summer season, said Coun Mitchell.

"Everybody licensed through the council now has to have this check on their past. Previously we have done this at local level with the local police, but because of new Government regulations it means that the Government is doing it," he said.

"I appreciate we need to have fit and proper people driving taxis, but it's been taken out of our hands and we have to wait weeks before checks come back to us.

"Why so long? And why are people having to have hardship before they can get their badge? I'm concerned for their livelihood."

Trevor Boaler, secretary of Blackpool Licensed Taxi Operators, said some drivers might decide to drive without a licence at all because of the delays.

"It is a national disaster. What appears to be happening is that the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is just not coping because the forms are read by a computer and unless they are filled in precisely the computer can't read them," he said.

He added that he supported Blackpool Borough Council's decision to renew licences before CRB reports have come back.

"If they didn't do that I should think half the taxi fleet in the town would be off the road or drivers would be operating without a badge, which technically means they are uninsured.

"But if a driver's badge is more than a month out of date the council will wait for the CRB form, which is only right and proper because it's protection for the public," he said.

Kevin Garritty, head of environmental services at Blackpool Borough Council, said: "Before a new taxi driver's licence is granted we need the CRB record. Until recently we used to get the information locally but now there are delays of six to eight weeks, although it's only relative to new applications. With renewals we do renew licences subject to us getting the information at a later date." If a CRB record came back showing an offence the matter would go before the council's public protection committee, he said.

A spokeswoman for the Criminal Records Bureau blamed the backlog on new systems, inexperienced staff, and customer error on forms as main reasons for the delay. She said an improvement plan is now in place to tackle the delays.