THOUSANDS of weekend revellers face disruption to their plans because of a strike by taxi drivers in Burnley continuing into next week.

Today pub bosses said the strike would cost them as people turned their backs on heading into the town centre for Friday and Saturday nights.

And concerned police urged people to make plans for how they would get into and out of town rather than face being stranded at the end of the night.

Cabbies and council bosses are at loggerheads over changes introduced this week to the testing and licensing of their vehicles from once to three times a year.

A series of meetings aimed at breaking the deadlock has failed to find a solution.

On Wednesday Hackney cab and private hire cars drivers took to the steps of the town hall in fury where they took their licence plates off their cars and handed them in to the council.

Last ditch talks looked to have ended the action, but drivers were today still off the streets with no sign of a compromise in sight.

The dispute will disrupt the weekend plans for thousands of people who normally use taxis to get into town and home at the end of the night.

There are also concerns that if people start calling in taxis from other areas like Nelson or Rossendale then tensions with Burnley drivers could increase.

Craig Smith, manager of The Swan, St James' Street, said: "People will find it difficult to get to and from town and for that reason I think a lot of people will just stay at home.

"That will have a big knock-on effect on trade as well which is a concern and I just hope a solution can be reached as soon as possible."

The council claimed the change would reduce bureaucracy and allow drivers to book tests at a time more convenient to them.

But drivers' associations say the change has been introduced without proper consultation with them and will make their lives more difficult by making them the most highly regulated in Lancashire.

And they claim the changes are the latest in a catalogue of unfair' treatment of drivers, including lowering the legal age of vehicles and not looking after drivers' safety.

Habib Ur Rehman, chair of the Burnley Private Hire Association, which looks after 400 drivers, said: "We have taken this regrettable decision due to the fact that the council is being totally unreasonable and the strike will continue until the council at least shows they are willing to treat us fairly."

Shakoor Hussain, of the Hackney Carriage Association, which has 34 drivers, said: "This strike had our full backing.

"The council has not listened to us and so we have been forced to take this step."

Police are advising anyone heading to town to arrange alternative transport.

Insp Damian Darcy said: "If the strike is going to go on into the weekend then people need to make sure they have made arrangements for how they are going to get to town and, more importantly, how they are going to get home."

Mick Cartledge, Burnley Council's Acting Chief Executive, said: "The council met with representatives from the two associations again this afternoon and has assured them of a full written response to each of the concerns they have raised.

"If the current strike action should continue into the weekend, we would advise anyone visiting the town centre on either Friday or Saturday evening to make alternative travel arrangements before setting off."

Coun Charles Bullas, deputy leader of the council and member of the executive committee which brought in the changes, said: "These changes needed to me be made and the taxis on the streets of the town will be safer as a result.

"We will look at all their grievances, but that will take time."