Commuters were left stranded at Preston Railway Station on Tuesday afternoon as cabbies refused to pick up any fares before staging a "rolling protest" through the city centre.

The protest followed an announcement by Virgin Trains that only 12 taxis would be allowed to use the rank at once.

The company has sold 108 annual permits to collect fares from the railway station at a cost of nearly £300 each and cabbies claim they are being "forced out of a job".

Scores of passengers were unable to get to work across the city on Tuesday and lunchtime traffic was thrown into chaos as around 100 cabs crawled through the city.

Chief Insp Paul Wilson, said: "Officers from the road policing unit were out from early yesterday in an attempt to minimise the disruption caused by the taxi protest across the city.

"Around 90 taxis took part in the protest which, given the already congested nature of Preston's roads, quickly resulted in delays for local drivers."

However, angry taxi drivers who called the unofficial strike claimed they had the "full support of the public".

Paul Ellithorn, 55, of Meadowfield, Fulwood, said: "I have been a taxi driver in Preston for 25 years and I have never seen anything like this in my life.

"We need to give a service to the public and we are not going to be able to - every London train that comes in takes 15 to 20 fares, so there won't be enough to provide a service.

"There are not enough ranks in the town centre as it is - a lot of us come down here because there is rank space."

Jimmy Fraser, 39, a Preston taxi driver for 15 years, said: "We do not want to upset the public but we have been forced into this by the railway.

"The public have given us their full support to us, they said it is wrong what the railway is doing."

City commuters told the Lancashire Evening Post they supported the strike.

Lisa Fairclough, 36, from Chorley, who uses hackney carriages to get to work at Preston Crown Court, said: "I support what they are doing - they have got to stand up for what is right."

Natalie Jobson, 24, a Carphone Warehouse employee in Ashton, said: "I get a taxi every day and I support what they are doing.

"I cannot see what harm they are doing sitting waiting for fares."

Pete Tyson, treasurer of the Preston Hackney Carriage Association, said: "It was organised by the drivers themselves - it is unofficial but the association is supporting it.

"If all of a sudden you were being told you are effectively being put out of a job, it is unacceptable.

"It is unacceptable to the drivers but also to the customers because there won't be sufficient taxis."

Charlie Oakes, chairman of the Bolton, Bury and Preston Hackney Carriage Association, said: "This can only escalate – it is absolutely ridiculous. They have not taken into account where these cabs are going to go or what impact it will have on station passengers."

A spokesman for Virgin Trains said: "We have been in discussion with Mr Oakes over the weekend and we had hoped that the strike would be called off.

"We remain willing to continue a dialogue with him and his members."

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