A kilted cabbie has been ordered to get rid of the Saltires on his car by council chiefs.

Rob Jamieson spent £1000 putting the Scots flag on his blue Skoda to help target tourists in the Trossachs, Stirling.

However, council bosses have now told the taxi driver to remove the white stripes from the bonnet and roof of his car because it doesn't meet their standards.

Mr Jamieson bought the car with the Saltire plan in mind and said he called the DVLA and Stirling Council to get the green light before splashing out on the design.

The taxi driver launched his Saltire Taxis & Tours service earlier this summer after moving north from Kent with wife Sharon, but two months after setting up the private hire service, the council told Mr Jamieson to scrap the Saltires.

Officials say the decoration breaches regulations and that they have no recollection of his earlier calls.

Mr Jamieson said: "Everybody thinks it's lovely and tourists love it.

"It doesn't matter where I go, people flash their lights, blow their horns, give me the thumbs-up.

"When I pick people up at pubs or the airport, they can see me straight away - you can't miss the car.

"I was thinking about expanding more into tours and operating more cars with this as the branding, now I'm not sure if I can do that.

"At the end of the day, it's only white stripes on the car."

Rules relating to the condition, maintenance and appearance of private hire vehicles are specified by local licensing authorities.

An official from Stirling Council told Mr Jamieson in an email: "We noted that there is a Saltire on the bonnet and roof of your vehicle - this is not allowed on Stirling Council taxis and we would expect you to have this removed ASAP and provide proof of this please."

Mr Jamieson said when he queried the request, the department said it had no memory of either of his two previous calls seeking advice on the decals decision.

A Stirling Council spokesman said: "Following a decision of the council's Regulatory Functions Panel in 2011, private hire vehicles can only display a maximum of one sign on each of the two front doors, with strict limits on size and what information is displayed.

"Information is restricted to company name and/or company logo.

"Mr Jamieson's signage does not meet this criteria and we have informed him of this.

"We will continue to engage with him to seek a positive resolution to this matter."