A CONSUMER group wants unlimited taxi numbers in Warrington to stop people being forced to queue and use unlicensed cabs.

The National Consumer Council said authorities like Warrington are ignoring Government advice by restricting the number of taxis.

The NCC has written to Warring- ton and 95 other councils urging them to abolish these unnecessary and anti-competitive restrictions'.

A spokesman said: "Restrictions mean fewer licensed taxis on the streets and longer taxi queues - tempting people to risk unlicensed cabs."

In 2003, the Office of Fair Trading concluded that quantity restrictions on licensed taxis harms competition and should be abolished.

Warrington has 140 hackney cabs. These are cabs that can pick people up off the street and the number has been increasing through managed growth'. Private hire cabs, which must be pre-booked, have no limits on their numbers.