Dozens of cabbies have been deemed fit to hold taxi licences - despite criminal pasts as reckless drivers, thieves and conmen.

The cabbies' list of shame includes motoring offences - including convictions for refusing a breath test - criminal damage, unlawful taking or opening of mailbags, obtaining property by deception, theft and perverting the course of justice.

In Adur district, seven of the 183 hackney carriage and private hire drivers have criminal records.

Details released to The Argus under the Freedom of Information Act show one cabbie has a string of convictions for vehicle theft, reckless driving, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified, burglary and failing to surrender to bail.

A snapshot of 253 drivers in the Wealden district showed almost one-in-ten had criminal records.

All the convictions are considered "spent" under the Rehabilitation of Offenders' Act but they are still looked at when offenders apply for jobs driving the public.

Several local authorities, which hand out the licences, have details of drivers' records but others have no idea how many of their cabbies have criminal convictions.

Convictions for minor driving offences are not a barrier to obtaining a licence and even a conviction for the most serious crimes may not stop potential cabbies getting licences from authorities across Sussex.

Taxi drivers last night defended council licensing policy.

Brian Ralfe, 59, a driver with Streamline Taxis, said: "Five out of ten members of the population have a criminal record these days.

"Does it make any difference to their ability to do their job?

"If you have been driving for 20 or 30 years I'd be surprised if you didn't have a driving conviction - the police love to have your details on file. There are a lot of grey areas, people have all sorts of reasons for getting into trouble with the police."

In July 2004, a taxi driver was forced to surrender his licence to Wealden District Council following complaints that he had driven recklessly, sworn at passengers, refused to help an elderly couple with their shopping and become aggressive when challenged about his behaviour.

Council guidelines suggest if potential taxi drivers have not been convicted of a serious crime in the past three years they would be allowed to drive a council-approved cab.

The guidlines on an applicant with a conviction for a serious sexual offence states applicants must have "a substantial period, at least three to five years, free of such offences. More than one conviction of this kind will preclude consideration for at least five years".

The guidelines are similar for those convicted of violent offences, drug-related offences, and dishonesty.

John Gallop, head of environmental protection at Wealden council, said if there was any doubt about a driver's application it could be referred to the licensing committee but he admitted that in the past three years there had not been a single referral.

Paul Hatcher, 42, a driver with the Adur Cab Company said: "This company does its own checks and would not employ someone with a criminal record. All of our drivers have been recommended by other drivers.

"The taxi driving community is so close knit, if someone had done something we would all know about it anyway."