A TAXI driver claims a ban on cabs using Monmouthshire car parks is putting him out of business.

And Melvyn Morgan, (pictured) of Trinity Street, Abergavenny, says the ban effectively means he cannot take his wife shopping anywhere in the county, because he is not allowed to park in public car parks.

Mr Morgan works as a private hire contractor to Lewis Taxis, who trade from Horsington's Yard in Lion Street, Abergavenny.

Until the ban, he always parked his car in the adjacent car parks in Lion Street, waiting for the company to give him a booking.

He said: "Because I am licensed for private hire I need to be near Lewis Taxis'' office to take bookings. I do not have a hackney carriage licence so I cannot park in the special taxi bays, nor can I ply for hire.

"The ban on parking in any of the council's car parks is putting me out of business, and it also affects other taxi drivers who own their own vehicles.

"As I use the same car to take my wife shopping, it means we have to shop out of Monmouthshire where there is no ban."

Monmouthshire's highways chief David Harris said the council had decided on the ban because they had received so many complaints about taxis parking in the public car parks.

He said: "The abuse of the system was most prevalent in Abergavenny, and we understand taxi drivers' difficulties but how can we differentiate whether they are using their vehicle for their own use or for private hire?

"The ban applies to all plated vehicles and this complaint from Mr Morgan is the first we have received, even though the ban applies throughout the whole county.

"He will have to find a private piece of ground on which to park or change to a hackney carriage licence so he can use a taxi bay in the town centre or at the railway station."