PRIVATE hire and taxi drivers are urging the council to change its number plate rules to protect passengers and drivers after yobs threw stones through a window, narrowly missing a man’s head.

Last week Bury driver Usman Tariq had been working in Prospect Street, Heywood, when he was targeted.

A brick was thrown through his back window littering the passenger seats with broken glass. He said: “It didn’t frighten me but it was only a one foot gap from maybe hitting me in the head.”

The incident was reported to police and investigations are ongoing.

At a Licensing and Safety Panel meeting on Thursday, drivers warned councillors and officers that private hire vehicles and taxis are regularly targeted by gangs of vandals who throw bricks and other projectiles.

They called on the local authority to change current rules which they claim enable the thugs to spot taxis from a distance.

Shaf Mahmood, a representative of Private Hire Drivers Association and manager at Walmersley taxi base, said: “As soon as they see the front plate they know it’s a taxi.

“I have asked this question many times, but will we have to wait until one of you councillors is in the back of one of our cabs and someone throws a brick or a stone and it hurts you, before action will be taken?

“They can see from a mile away that it’s a taxi with a yellow plate in front. There are many other councils who allow no front plates for the safety of the passengers and the driver and anyone using that car.

“Consider this please because it could be your safety or Mr Tariq could have had his family in the back of his car, or a passenger.”

Mr Mahmood also requested that the council review its policy on permanent vehicle signs which he claimed were similarly putting drivers and their families at risk.

Current Bury Council rules mean taxi and private hire drivers licensed by the local authority must display identification plates at the front and rear of their vehicles. Plates must also be fixed and visible at all times.

Likewise signs with the operator’s name must be at the front and rear of the vehicle, and with the name, phone number and logo added on the doors.

Licensing unit manager Michael Bridge told the panel: “The conditions state that vehicles have to have two plates. That has been the policy in Bury for the last 13 years. Yes, Mr Mahmood is correct, there are authorities that do have one plate. It would be a matter for this council to decide whether they wanted to move from the stance of the conditions in relation to having one plate or not.”

During the meeting licensing panel agreed to hold a review into the licence plate policy.