Taxi drivers will also carry out a rolling protest through the city, after failing to reach an agreement with Virgin Trains over plans to limit the number taxi rank spaces at the railway station to just 12.

Earlier this month Hackney cab drivers brought the city to a standstill with a slow rolling protest, and left commuters stranded at the station.

Talks aimed at resolving the row collapsed yesterday – with taxi bosses cliaming their livelihoods will be hit and the city centre permanently congested if the plans are allowed to go ahead.

Related stories
>> Cab drivers bring city to standstill
>> Cabs could clog city in station row

Charlie Oakes, chairman of the Bolton, Bury, and Preston Hackney Carriage Association, said: "We attended a meeting with Virgin Rail and representatives from the city council. It was not fruitful.

"They think 12 cabs is quite adequate and do not care about the passengers.I will recommend a slow protest drive through the city centre and an all day strike, and then increasing it to Friday and Saturday nights."

A spokesman for Virgin Trains said: "We are happy to confirm we are definitely going through with 12 spaces for taxis.

"We are looking into the possibility of another location from which taxis could be called forward, but at the moment we are looking for a location.

"Work starts on June 9 – we are going to start enforcing it before then so we are ready for the start of the week."

>> Vote in our latest web poll