Bristol's taxi drivers say their working lives are being made intolerable by the sheer number of cabs in the city.

The number of cabs in the city has almost doubled since the trade was deregulated in 1997.

Drivers say there are too many cabs and not enough passengers and that their 40-hour week has had to rise to 60 hours in order to earn a living.

Now one driver has held a meeting with the council to ask officials to limit the number of licences it issues.

Licensed vehicles

John Gunter, who is close to retiring after 30 years as a cab driver, said he would discourage anyone from entering the trade.

"I say to them, 'forget it - it's too many hours and too little money'."

The drivers are calling on the council for changes

There are currently 642 licensed vehicles operating in the city.

One taxi driver told BBC News Online: "There's at least 300 too many taxis out there at the moment.

"The impact on me is I have gone from a 40-hour week to 60 hours to make my money."

Mr Gunter who represents the taxi drivers in the city for the Transport and General Workers' Union, took his case to the council on Tuesday.

"I told them it's forcing us to work too many hours and it makes it difficult to make a reasonable living.

"It's affecting our family lives and it's no good to the general public to have a tired driver when they're going on a journey."

Bristol City Council said no decision on whether or not to restrict the number of licences issued would be made before December.