THERE was a mixed reaction from taxi firms over proposals for age regulations for taxis yesterday.

Newport council licensing committee will today discuss draft regulations for hackney carriages and private hire car vehicles.

They include proposals to ban cars 15 years old or older from being newly licensed – although cars already on the road would not be affected.

The last time Newport council tried to introduce age limits – 12 years for hackney carriages and eight for private vehicles – it lost a judicial review over the regulations which forced it to reconsult over the issue.

Dennis Griffiths, owner of Servu Taxis, said he would be opposed to age limits being brought in.

“It doesn’t matter what the age limit of the car is,” he said, adding that as long as they are maintained they should be able to be passed.

Shahid Ali, co-owner of Globe Taxis, said: “As long as a taxi passes council plating regulations and an MoT it should be a taxi.

“No matter how old executive cars are they are still lovely.

As long as they are still roadworthy there shouldn’t be a problem with any car.”

But he added that he believed cars should maybe be taken off the road when they get as old as 25 years.

Mohamed Anwar, owner of Town Taxis, said he was happy with the new regulations: “It’s good for customers. There are fewer chances of them breaking down and it would be easy to maintain the cars.”