ILLEGAL minicab drivers touting for business with unlicensed vehicles face being fingerprinted and having their DNA recorded on the national criminal database, Chester's MP is warning.

Christine Russell has welcomed a Home Office crackdown aimed at cutting sex attacks on women.

From December 1 taxi touting has become a recordable offence giving police more powers to identify illegal drivers.

As well as being associated with sexual assaults on their passengers, unlicensed drivers are uninsured and often have previous criminal convictions. Touting is key to these illegal drivers getting business and potential victims.

The powers are aimed at helping the police to deal with unlicensed drivers before passengers get into their cars. It will also help police catch illegal drivers who flout the law even if working in different towns and cities in the UK.

Mrs Russell has been on weekend evening tours of the city centre with police and city council enforcement officers on the lookout for illegal taxi drivers and cabbies with unroadworthy vehicles.

She said: 'Unlicensed minicab drivers are a menace to the public, particularly women. By making taxi touting a recordable offence, the Government is giving the police vital new powers to deal with these dangerous individuals.

'Enabling them to take fingerprints and DNA samples will help forces across the country catch those who are trying to evade the law.'

She added: 'Passengers also need to take steps to ensure their own safety. We all know the dangers of getting in a stranger's car but somehow it seems OK outside a club in the early hours of the morning.

'I urge anyone who's out late at night to think twice and wait a few minutes longer for a licensed taxi or for a night bus rather than risking their safety to get home quicker.'

Peter Willett, a senior licensing officer at the Town Hall, says there are an average 500 private hire vehicles in Chester at any one time and regular checks are made to ensure vehicles are licensed, road-worthy and suitable to be used to ferry people around the city.

He said relations with the city's private hire operators were good. 'We carry out a huge number of checks with no problems whatsoever.'

But it is vital people book their travel with private hire vehicles in advance. Otherwise they will not be insured in the event of an accident.

Managers of the main Chester taxi firms, KingKabs (Chester) Ltd, Abbey Taxis and Chester Private Hire, all say they made regular checks on vehicles to ensure they are suitable for use and always cooperate fully with the licensing authorities.

Anyone with concerns about private hire vehicles should phone the city council licensing team on 01244 402300.