MOST taxis in Brighton have been given a clean bill of health after a spot check operation.

Brighton and Hove City Council carried out its first set of random taxi checks to try to catch any unsafe or unroadworthy cabs.

Out of 75 taxis picked during the one-day Operation Cabbie, 16 were found to have minor faults and were temporarily taken off the road. But most were back working again later the same day.

Councillor Jeane Lepper, chairman of Brighton and Hove City Council's licensing committee, said: "Taxi drivers in the city take a pride in their job. We expected the checks to show most vehicles are in a good condition and we are pleased this has proved to be the case.

"The response from the taxi trade has been excellent - they felt it was a positive move and look forward to us carrying out another operation in future."

The council's taxi licensing team carried out the checks with the help of the police and the Government's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).

VOSA pulled eight vehicles off the road for faults like worn tyres or faulty lights. The licensing team temporarily stopped another eight cabs from working for failing to meet licensing requirements like having a fire extinguisher or needing bodywork repairs.

The council keeps tight control over the number of taxis operating in the city. Its system of managed growth allows licence numbers to increase by five a year.

John Oram, manager of Streamline Cabs, welcomed the idea of spot checks. He said: "I think it's a good thing for the trade that they're doing spot checks. It stops people running around in vehicles that are not roadworthy. We don't have lots of unlicensed minicabs in the city because the council was probably the first local authority to license private hire vehicles. They were issued with proper vehicle licenses. I think Brighton and Hove's probably pretty much a leader in this."

All taxis in the city undergo rigorous testing once a year and additional spot checks can be carried out.

Damien Norman, Brighton and Hove's Taxi Driver of the Year, said: "The figures sound excellent. We have a high standard of vehicles in the city, with the tests we have to do each year. They're pretty rigorous."

A report on Operation Cabbie will be made to the council's licensing committee on April 20. It will recommend more spot checks in the future.