By Alastair Lawson BBC correspondent in Dhaka

Thousands of cycle rickshaw drivers in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka have staged a large demonstration and strike in protest over a government initiative to remove 50,000 of the vehicles from the streets over the next month.

Although the strike has been called we are carrying on with our driving, as we have to earn our living

A rickshaw driver in Dhaka

The authorities say they are determined to lower the number of cycle rickshaws that operate in Dhaka because many are unlicensed and add to the city's notoriously large traffic jams.

Negotiating the price of a rickshaw journey in Dhaka on Thursday was a harder task than usual.

Many of the cycles stayed off the streets in protest over the government's campaign to remove thousands from the roads.

The authorities say over half of the city's 350,000 cycle rickshaws are unlicensed.

They have told police to launch large-scale stop and search checks throughout the city.

Driving 'dangerously'

Already thousands of rickshaws have been confiscated and dumped. Rickshaw riders who took part in a protest against the government's initiative said they were being discriminated against.

"Although the strike has been called we are carrying on with our driving, as we have to earn our living. Today I'm asking people for a decent fare, but it's impossible for me to carry on with this huge amount of passengers" said a rickshaw driver".

The rickshaw riders want the government to suspend the campaign.

Many are from the poorest sections of the population and earn less than two dollars a day riding a cycle that in most cases is rented on a daily basis from one of several large rickshaw hire companies.

But the government insists that the vehicles must be removed because there are too many of them which are either unlicensed, or drive dangerously.