York has become the latest UK city to deny Uber a license to operate in the city.
The historic town joins Yorkshire counterpart Sheffield in banning the taxi hailing app, with London famously leading the charge earlier this year.
A committee at the City of York Council cited the number of complaints it had received about the service and a recent well-publicised data protection breach as reasons for the decision.
Saf Din, chairman of the York Hackney Carriage Drivers Association, told the meeting Uber was “systematically abusing” the local laws and “looking for loopholes” by using out-of-town vehicles.
He said: “The trade does not object to fair competition, but Uber are not a fair player in the public transport world in the UK.”
Uber’s licence was due to expire in York on Christmas Eve this year, having twice previously been granted clearance to operate – most recently on December 21 2016.
Neil McGonigle, head of cities for the north of England for Uber, told councillors there were 28,000 people who regularly use the app in the city.
He said: “Over the course of the last 12 months we have seen a steady increase in the number of people looking to use the service we provide.
“From our experience, the passengers love the ability to have the convenience of pressing a button to request a car, to take a trip without having to use cash at all and, from a safety point of view, being able to track every element of that journey.
“I believe that increased choice and competition is a good thing for both passengers and drivers in terms of increasing standards across the board.”
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