IT was a happy new year for Warrington's taxi firms as revellers piled on the pressure to make their way home.

Abba Cars seemed to have the best night of the bunch. A spokesman said: "After midnight we were jam-packed. The weather also affected our drivers because it takes them longer to get to bookings, which has a knock-on effect. Most people were understanding but you got the odd few who weren't.

"We had 39 drivers out on the night, out of 200 and together with the weather and the demand, it was a nightmare."

A spokesman for Benco said: "A lot of people were ringing and we were struggling to get round because of the weather, and some didn't wait which isn't on when you've had to drive through all that." A Co-op spokeswoman said: "We have to blame the weathermen for it not being better because they were threatening blizzards which never turned up and we had loads of cancellations." A Crown Cars spokeswoman said: "It was quite steady all night but was busiest after midnight."