A TAXI driver who was caught overtaking a car stopped at red traffic lights by driving on the wrong side of the road while carrying a passenger has had his licence suspended.

The offender, who admitted his 'foolhardy' decision had been unsafe, apologised for his actions at a town hall hearing last week.

But councillors on the licensing sub-committee decided to suspend his licence to drive a private hire vehicle for a period of six weeks.

They concluded that the driver is not a fit and proper person to hold such a licence at this time, according to minutes from the private meeting.

They said: "Members were concerned that the driver had carried out an extremely dangerous manoeuvre that could have put himself and members of the public in danger."

Dashcam footage catching the accused driver in the act was sent by a member of the public to Greater Manchester Police.

After being informed about the complaint by the police, the council's licensing unit conduced a telephone interview with the driver who said he had no knowledge of the incident.

However, when he was shown the footage in a meeting that followed, he agreed that it was his vehicle and that he was the driver at the time.

The police offered him the option to attend a training course as an alternative to a conditional offer of a fixed penalty.

The sub-committee viewed the dashcam footage and asked the driver to explain his version of the incident, according to minutes from the meeting.

They said: "He explained that he had driven around the car in front of him to avoid an accident as the vehicle had stopped suddenly and he did not want to crash into the back of it. He apologised for his actions and realised that it had been a foolhardy decision and had been unsafe."

In coming to its decision, the sub-committee acknowledged that the police had chosen not to prosecute the driver and had offered a training course instead which he had attended.

The private hearing, in which two other drivers were also suspended, took place on July 30.