By Courtney Cameron

Cabbies in Glasgow will have to abide by a new code of conduct that could see them disciplined for idling, refusing fares or parking outside of ranks.

The rules are being enforced by the city council from Friday after concerns were raised about the way stances were operating and the rising number of illegally parked drivers.

The code was passed by the council's licensing and regulatory committee last November and consists of eight rules - many of which are already part of taxi drivers licensing conditions.

Licensing chiefs said they felt they needed to re-enforce them to maintain and improve taxi standards in the city.

Calum Anderson, chairman of Glasgow Cab section at Unite the Union, said the biggest problem with the new rules is that there isn't enough rank space in the city centre to accommodate the 1400 hackney licences that Glasgow City Council have issued.

He said: "Taxis in Glasgow have two choices, they either find a space on a rank or circle the city looking for that space on a rank.

"There are provisions in Glasgow for less than 10% of the taxi fleet, so when they are driving around obviously the emission levels are rocketing in the city which is a big issue."

He added: "The council have either been closing or relocating taxi ranks to areas where there are low footfall. The problem with this is, taxis will sit and wait for hires for longer."

Drivers will be disciplined if they are caught refusing any lawful fares, if they don't move their taxi up the stance as soon as a space becomes available and they must ensure their engine is switched off while waiting for hires.

Drivers parking illegally around taxi ranks is one of the council's main concerns.

Councillor Alex Wilson, convener of Licensing and Regulations said: "Over ranking is causing detrimental effect to oncoming traffic.

"We are seeing taxi drivers doing manoeuvres around about the ranks which aren't safe.

"Not all taxi drivers do this but we have got a minority that are doing it and it's causing issues - not only for our enforcement but for the public as well.

"If there's not sufficient rank space then surely these drivers should be looking at other areas around the city where they can park."

The council also acknowledged that private hire cars have been causing problems by sitting in taxi ranks - posing difficulty for hackney drivers.

Officials said to ensure ranks are being used appropriately, parking attendants have issued 104 parking charge noticed between November last year and the middle of the January.

Simon Mitchell is just one of Glasgow's 1400 licensed Hackney cabbies.

He spends his days in the city centre looking for hires and trying to find spaces on taxi ranks.

He said: "When you can't find a space in a rank it leaves you with no option but to drive around the city.

"It flies in the face of the city council's commitment to reducing emissions. It's worrying.

"Not being able to find a space on a rank is a daily occurrence for me."

He said private hire cars taking up spaces has been a particular problem.

He said: "Part of the difficulty in the city centre is because it's a busy area, lots of drivers migrate to it.

"I don't want to drive around looking for hires because I'm burning fuel."

Simon said in his opinion, Hackney drivers tend to spend more time sitting on ranks than they ever have before because of the increasing private hire trade.